


Shelter

by Kuromori (Charred_Ground), sumire (sometimesafangirl)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Galra Keith (Voltron), M/M, Protective Lance (Voltron), RP Style, Reversible Couple, Season 3, Sleepy Cuddles, Unproven Shiro Theory, klance, klangst, two authors, white hair keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-15 13:48:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 54,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11807214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charred_Ground/pseuds/Kuromori, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sometimesafangirl/pseuds/sumire
Summary: What started as a one shot post season 3 RP fic got a little out of hand so we decided to post it here. There will be multiple chapters. We welcome you to read and enjoy.This is our foray into the fandom, please be kind as we get a feel for the characters and how we write for them. Comments and suggestions are always welcome. (Please be constructive not destructive). We did this for fun, and we hope you have fun reading it as well.





	1. Cornerstone

“Are you going to be okay then?” The enhanced arm squeezed tightly down on Keith’s shoulder.

“Yeah. I’m just going to take a few more moments to sort it out.” The younger man turned his head back to the observation window, his eyes looking out into the endless expanse of countless stars. The green glow of super-heated nebula gasses casting an eerie hue over all that surrounded it.

“Alright, take all the time you need. We’ll be ready for you, when you are.”

“Thanks, Shiro.” Keith’s eyes narrowed at the retreating reflection of the elder man and he felt his posture deflate as the doors slid closed behind him.

Nothing had been right with Shiro since the moment Keith brought him to the castle, and the former red paladin was running out of the excuses. Every instinct inside the young man was on edge, but Keith’s own desires and the team's needs for this to be exactly what it looked like overpowered his will. The rest of them all seemed so happy and accepting of the black paladin’s return, but why couldn’t they see what Keith saw? Sure, the tone, the language, and the mannerisms were all on point. He was still the warm reassurance they needed, but when it came to Keith there was a hollowness to all of it. A void. 

Shiro had always been his solace. A place Keith could run to and hide if he needed. Shiro was also the swift kick in his ass when he needed that. Shiro was his rock. His family. The Shiro he had now, the one who just veiled insult after insult at him under the guise of a ‘pep’ talk, was not his Shiro. This man was dangerous. If Shiro knew it or not, it didn’t matter. Keith did, and he allowed him to be here, to lead them, to take his position up as if he’d never left, and to undermine Keith’s every decision. Unless he was wrong.

“Damnit.” A long sigh escaped the former red paladin, his forehead resting against the glass as he squeezed his eyes shut against the oncoming headache. After a moment, he pushed himself off the window and into motion, making it back to his room without incident or interruption. 

Keith needed to think, but more importantly, he needed to rest. The world was taking on that dull listless quality it tended to do when his body was deprived of sleep. He barely heard his doors slide open or close as he uncharacteristically tossed his jacket aside and laid himself down on the bed, over the unmade covers. His face pressed against his pillow, arms folded under it to cradle his head and the thoughts running wild inside. 

Maybe he really wasn’t meant to lead. Whatever faith Shiro had in him was grotesquely misplaced. Keith had become so agitated when Shiro’s commands overrode his own that it didn’t seem like himself. Everyone else fell right into line except him. Perhaps the universe was trying to tell him something. He sucked at this ‘group’ stuff. Could he even trust his instincts when it came to Shiro now? Or was that jealousy getting the better of him? Sure, he didn’t want to lead at first, but now that he’d gotten a taste for it, did he want more? Was he actually that kind of a person? The weight of the implications became too much for the youth and he fell to fitful slumber.

Lance stood in the hallway, leaning back against the wall, arms crossed, one foot up flat against the wall behind him. His brows furrowed as he looked at the floor, a frown curving on his lips. The foot on the wall tapped as he tried to work everything out in his head. He didn't mean to eavesdrop--well that wasn't entirely true. He had been looking for Keith when he saw Shiro head into that room. While he hadn't meant to walk into their conversation, he absolutely meant to hide just outside the door and listen to everything that was said, and he absolutely meant to bolt down the hallway and hide when Shiro, and then Keith walked out, the former looking completely unfazed, the latter looking like his entire world had been disturbed. 

So he stood there, tapping his foot, debating whether he should pretend nothing happened and go back to his room or do what he felt like he needed to do and find Keith. The obvious answer was find Keith. Lance nodded his head and let out a soft hmm, agreeing with his own decision before he pushed himself off the wall, stuffed his hands into his pockets, and walked towards Keith's room. When he reached the door, he stopped and reached towards the panel. He should knock first, right? He should make sure he's in there? He knocked, and he called out "Keith?" But there was no answer, so he pushed the button and blinked, totally not expecting the door to open. 

He stepped in and looked around as the door closed behind him, brows furrowing again when he found his what, his friend? his leader? apparently sleeping, but not very comfortably. Keith's face was contorted into a bit of a grimace, and he was shifting in a way that made it clear to Lance that something unsettling was going on in his head. "Keith?" But the former red paladin didn't hear him, and didn't wake up, so Lance walked to the side of the bed. He frowned more, which kind of hurt his face muscles a bit, but this was a situation that called for a deep frown. "Keith? Wake up buddy." He reached out to touch his shoulder. Why was he so pale? Was he sick? Should he get help? "Hey..."

“Hmph!” Keith jerked, and in a flash of purple light he had his Blade of Memora pressed to Lance’s throat, his eyes wide and wild, the light of the insignia glinting like a flame in his eyes. A cold sweat from his nightmares still on his face, until he registered who was at his bed side. “Jesus, Lance!” The Paladin cursed, a small growl on his lips. 

“Who sneaks up on someone in their bed!? How did you even get in here?” Keith lowered the knife, then put it aside, glaring at it as if it offended him before he turned his eyes back to the taller man. “I… I’m sorry… did I get you?”

Lance tilted his head back a little as though he were trying to pull his neck into itself when that knife came to his neck. He slowly lifted his hands and stared at Keith, then glanced at the knife until it was safely put aside. "No, but if you did, would you have kissed it to make it better?" He cracked a slightly crooked smile and lowered his hands.

"I called for you and knocked, and you didn't answer, so I just pushed the button, and you hadn't locked it, so the doors opened. I wanted to make sure you were okay after all of that." And he would leave that to Keith's imagination. He didn't need to go spilling that he had listened in on a very private conversation. Keith would probably slice through him for real if he said anything. 

“After all of what?” One thick dark eyebrow arched up as Keith regarded Lance, ignoring the fact that he’d been so out of it that he didn’t lock his own door. “Let me see it. But keep talking.” He leaned into him, tilting Lance’s head back, the fingers of his other hand pressing gently against a fine red line the blade left. 

“You’re an idiot.” Guilt softened Keith’s words into a relieved endearment.

Lance wasn't really expecting Keith to touch him so gently, and it sent something pleasant coursing through his veins. He suppressed a shudder, trying to make sure that good feeling stayed on the inside. "Everything. All of it." His voice cracked and he tried to clear his throat when Keith started inspecting his neck, but it only made his voice crack again. "ARE...are you okay? Am I okay? Did you cut me?"

“It’s not bleeding. It’s fine.” He sighed, bowing his head. “Sorry. I--" There was a pause as he looked slide long up into Lance’s face. His narrow features didn’t seem suitable to express the level of concern that his Red Lion successor was showing him. 

Lance’s forehead wrinkled into 4 lines when he furrowed his brow and the frown on his face took an honest effort to hold. Keith was tempted to see just how long he could keep it up, but felt more compelled to show mercy. 

“You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be fine.” Keith finished his inspection with one last soft touch to tilt Lance’s head to the light before dropping his hands back to his sides.

"What are you talking about I don't need to worry about you?" Lance was still looking up with the way Keith had tilted his head back, and his eyes narrowed the tiniest bit at those somewhat pleasurable attentions to his neck, but his frown had returned, and his brows furrowed once again. "You were having a nightmare or something, so someone's gotta worry about you!"

There it was, that faint tingle to his cheeks. That startled expression when anyone other than Shiro seemed to express even the smallest part of concern for him. He’d always yearned for it. Acceptance. Who didn’t? But when he had it, he never knew what to do with it. Particularly when it came from Lance. 

“It’s not important. Just a nightmare.” Keith offered one of those forced smiles. “Besides, you have your own things to worry about. Right?”

"Hm.." Lance lowered his head now that it seemed like Keith was done checking his neck. "You mean like you trying to kill me? Yeah, that's something I apparently need to worry about." He shook his head and turned it a little, and spoke in his best announcer voice. "This just in! Concerned team member beheaded by his own leader during a nightmare! News at eleven!" He shook his head again and looked back at Keith. "But seriously, no. I don't have my own things to worry about. Or you can say this is one of my own things to worry about. You're clearly not okay."

Keith pursed his lips to the side, clicked his tongue against his teeth before he sighed, and fell back to his bed. One arm falling over his eyes, the other falling unintentionally into Lance’s hand. Though he didn’t move it. “That bad, huh?”

"I didn't exactly walk in on Sleeping Beauty." Lance looked down at the hand that had landed on his own, but he made no move to pull it back. Instead he reached up with his other hand and gently poked one of Keith's shoulders. "You were making quite an ugly face, and you looked a little pale. So while it probably wasn't the worst you could have been, it wasn't great. But you weren't okay even before you came in here, were you?"

“You know, you’re not so great with this comforting thing.” Despite himself, Keith smiled, peeking at the other man from under his arm. “Well, I hope you weren’t expecting the princess then. She’s a floor up and would have chopped your head off if she woke up to you over her bed.” 

"I don't know. Looks like it's working pretty well." Lance's frown lessened, and he even managed to grin a moment before he shook his head. "We'd both have a lot of explaining to do if you thought I would expect to find her in your room."

“Putting it mildly.” Keith pushed himself up on his elbows, slipping his hand from Lance’s, and using his head to motion toward his grin. “That's better. I like that stupid expression more.” 

Lance's frown returned when Keith took his hand away, but he passed it off more as a response to the insult than anything else. "Stupid expression?" His grin was a stupid expression? He always thought he looked quite charming when he grinned. He stopped leaning over Keith, and instead he sat on the edge of the bed and looked at him. "I come in here out of concern for you, and you say my face is stupid? That's totally the wrong reaction. You're supposed to say I'm charming or sexy or something." He took Keith's hand again and grinned once more. "Or are you just too shy to compliment me because I'm so good looking you can't handle it?"

“You called me ugly. Suitable for you to be stupid.” Keith’s readied smirk broke into a startled choke, his cheeks turning shades of red that didn't have definition. “Who do you think you’re talking to?!”

"You. Who else would I be talking to in here? And to be fair, everyone's ugly when their face is distorted from nightmares." Lance leaned in just a little, his hand still holding Keith's. "You can tell me about it you know. You might feel better." Were Keith's eyelashes always that long, or was Lance completely swayed by those touches to his neck earlier?

“Do you make a habit out of watching people sleep? Red’s tastes have gone downhill.” Keith tried joke, only sensing the tactlessness of the comment after it left his mouth. “I didn’t mean that.” He sighed allowing Lance’s slightly larger hand to take his, idly noticing that while his hand wasn’t as big as Shiro’s, his fingers were longer, more slender. Lance’s hand didn’t overlap Keith’s. It just held it. 

“I…” The older paladin sighed, watching their hands, noticing how much softer Lance’s hands were than his. Their caramel shades only starting to show the callouses so many pilots gain over time. Keith started to self-consciously pull his hand away. “You heard it. What did it sound like to you, in your opinion? Not as Shiro’s friend. But as a Paladin.”

Lance tightened his grip on Keith's hand. Not enough to hurt him, but enough to keep him from pulling away. "Heard what?" He blinked. Did Keith know he was eavesdropping, or was it something else? 

“You asked me how I was doing after all of that.” Keith turned his head to Lance but never lifted it. Instead those storm blue eyes shifted to the side, shimmering a deep purple as they gathered the dim glow of the inlaid lighting.

"I did." Lance looked at him, trying to read his expression for any hint. "But I heard a lot of it, so I don't know which it you want me to tell you about."

“Your thoughts.” Keith lifted those eyes up to Lance. Those large, child-like, desperate eyes. Speed, agility, ferocity, any weapons Keith naturally possessed were nothing compared to the vulnerability in those eyes.

"About what I heard..." Lance looked at Keith, blinking at the sudden vulnerability that stared back at him. Normally Keith was sulky and guarded, but this expression was almost too much to take. He sighed and looked down at their hands, his brows furrowing once more. "Well, I think you are too hard on yourself. This is all new to you, and we—I should have backed you up when you needed it." He looked back up at him, frowning again. "But that wasn't because you're bad at it, or Shiro's better or anything." He shook his head. "You're the one who came up with the better plan, and even if it didn't turn out the way you wanted, it really did turn out better than it would have otherwise." He squeezed his hand a little. "I will do better to support you. Besides..." He shook his head and looked off to the side, cutting himself off.

“Besides?” Keith pressed gently.

Lance kept his gaze off Keith as his lips twitched a bit. What was he supposed to say now? He cut himself off for a reason! Should he tell Keith he heard what Shiro said, and it left a bad taste in his mouth? Should he tell him that he'd rather support Keith than argue with him, even if he was cute no matter what emotion he showed? Wait, what? CUTE? Lance shook his head a few times to clear that thought, not caring how ridiculous he must have looked. "N-nothing."

Keith watched Lance fret and fidget, and his head cocked to the side. It was endearing to say the least. The guy who never shut up, was at a loss for words. Keith found himself enjoying this rare moment of silence. “Lance, I need you to question me. I need you to be the voice in my head the can see the whole situation.”

“When I’m out there,” Keith motioned to the whole of the universe with a wave of his hand. “When I see that all of this can be stopped in one quick motion, be it Lotor or the comet ship. I’m going to go for it. You’re in Red, not because you’re the best pilot. Not because you’re a rebel.” Keith felt a smile curve the edge of his lips. “Or a hot head. You’re red, because I need it to be you. I need you.”

Lance turned his head back to Keith and blinked, his mouth opening as he stared at him. It took him several moments to compose himself before he slowly let a smirk curve his lips. "You _need_ me?"

“Of course, I do.” Keith’s smile warmed in vast degrees. “You’ve never shied away from pointing out my flaws, but if you say you trust me or if you agree with me, I trust you.” 

"Is that the only way you need me?" Lance looked at him expectantly. He needed to hear it. Whatever it was, he needed Keith to let him know more than what he was saying now.

Keith’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. What was Lance driving at? This whole night, he’d been acting off. Not in the same sense as Shiro, but in a different, more pleasant way. The slow dawn of it hit Keith across the face like a whip from a lion’s tail. Intuition was never something Keith was lacking. “Lance, are you wanting more from me?” 

The laugh Lance let out was awkward and fake. He knew it. He knew he had gone too far the moment Keith narrowed his eyes. But he let out that stupid fake laugh and let go of Keith's hand as if he could pass the question off as a joke. Of course Keith would figure out that he meant something more, but he had to hide it. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said with a hint of a forced chuckle. 

“Lance,” Before Keith could think, or before Lance could get away, Keith pushed himself up and pulled other man down, their foreheads touching. “I need you to be honest with me.” The short-lived leader of Voltron, nuzzled his head in, his warm cheek pressing against Lance’s. 

“What do you want from me?” 

Too close. Lance yelped when he was pulled down, and now he was too close. In order to catch himself, he had to put his hands on the bed on either side of Keith's hips, and it only emphasized the fact that they were too close. And here he was, his breathing starting to get a little heavier out of sheer nervousness from being this close. 

But that was it. Lance tried to remain decent, but Keith just pushed him, and he was going to keep pushing him, wasn't he? So Lance threw caution into the wind, and instead of answering Keith—he wouldn't have been able to utter a word with that soft cheek pressed against his own—he moved enough so that it was their lips pressing together, not their cheeks.

Keith tilted his head back when Lance brought his lips down to his. There was no protest, no whimper, no fight. Some part of Keith had already given in to this as soon as felt the air in the room shift. Lance was offering him a connection, an outlet, a safe place where he could hide from the rest of the universe and all its cruel jokes it made at his expense. 

Keith didn’t like to run from his problems, but he didn’t mind a rescue from time to time. If only for a moment. A moment for soft pliant, if not slightly chapped lips. A moment for a hard body to press down against his. A moment where he could share another’s heat, or allow someone to quell his own. Keith’s hand slipped back into Lance’s hair, the short coarse locks slipping through his fingers, leaving Keith to wonder if there was supposed to be a curl to them.

“Nnn,” Came a soft mewl of pleasure as he took a quick breath. Lance had a scent of summer beaches. Not the kind of overcrowded tourist flair, but the scent of one just after twilight. A chill rising from the ground, moist sand pressing between his toes. A place lost in time under, star filled sky.

“Let me get lost here.” Keith whispered, as if unaware that he’d even spoke the words out loud.

That soft noise Keith let out made Lance's whole body tremble. He had honestly expected to be shoved violently to the floor, but here he was, lips still brushing together, even as the other paladin spoke. Lance couldn't help the grunt that escaped as he quipped "then stop talking." He barely let the words complete themselves before he was kissing Keith again. There was something about his lips that Lance could get addicted to, and that made it all the more exciting.

Keith’s protest died as quickly as it was birthed and became little more than a whimper between the warm and growing desperation of Lance’s kiss. It was eager, messy, and hard. Keith never spent much time pondering what a kiss would be like. He knew how lips and skin felt, he had those, so he could have made a calculated guess. Lance defied calculation. Lance defied everything on a personal whim. Keith might be a hothead, but Lance operated on selfish impulse. Though the complaint seemed hypocritical as Keith felt his own lips part at his urging. 

Lance heated up the kiss, pushing his tongue to taste Keith. He moaned into it, while he shifted and slid onto the bed. He rested one leg between Keith's, his hands sliding up the mattress from beside his hips, which, of course, pressed his body down against the one beneath him. He didn't break that kiss even as his body gently pushed Keith to lay back once more. The thought that Keith was a man crossed his mind for only the briefest of moments. In this, it didn't matter. He was feeling more pressing his body against the smaller one beneath him than he had ever felt in all of his years of flirting with women or imagining what it would be like to be with them. This feeling now went beyond anything he could have possibly conjured up on his own.

“Hmmph!” Keith gasped. The weight of the other body pressing the air from his lungs. The sensation wasn't horrible, instead it forced a sybaritic arch of his spine. His hips ground up pressing into Lance while his leg hooked around the other’s slender waist, pulling him in closer as he sunk back into the bed after the kiss broke. 

Leanly shaped arms dropped to lay beside Keith’s head. The skin looking all too white and fragile despite the tight iron coil of tiger-like muscles moving and tensing below the ivory flesh. His hands stood in stark contrast to the pillow of thick obsidian hair they laid upon. 

As Keith labored to catch his breath, his eyes focused up at Lance, dark and wanting. Normally they were so guarded and so mystery-laden that it was a part of the paladin’s natural charm, but seeing him lying there, exposed, offering up a part of him that was previously nameless, had a quality beyond simple charm. It was damn erotic.

Lance's eyes half closed as he looked down at Keith. He hadn't really pulled back much, so all he really could see were his eyes, and their darkness made something inside Lance light up. Those deep pools threatened to pull him in and drown him, and he didn't even care. He grunted a little and shifted so he could press his upper thigh against Keith, grinding a little against him, a process made infinitely easier with one of the other paladin's legs around his waist. He said nothing. He just kept his eyes on Keith's.

There was a twitch followed by a jolt that thrilled up then down every nerve in Keith’s hybrid Galrian body. Pleasure burned and smoldered, releasing an intoxicating wave of lust with every rough grind and press of Lance made between his legs. Keith’s hands balled up into white knuckled fists, his jaw locking down to fight against the sounds building in his throat. He kept his eyes locked evenly with Lance’s, not wanting to be the first to break. 

A slow smirk spread across Lance's lips and he rubbed with his leg a bit more deliberately. He shifted enough to lift one hand from the bed and rest it on one of Keith's hips, holding him steady as he rubbed with his leg. If Keith was going to challenge him, he was going to answer it. And with the way Keith's body rocked against his thigh, he knew the challenge wouldn't last much longer. Lance didn't know if it was the Galrian blood in the other paladin, but there was something about the way his hips shifted to accommodate the grinding that drove him to do more. Some subtlety in his movement that he never quite noticed until now, and it only made his smirk widen.

Keith’s head tossed to the side. A fan of raven hair falling over his cheek, which was getting more and more flushed the more Lance pushed him, but those eyes never wavered. Keith steeled his storm cloud blue eyes on to the other paladin. They clashed hungrily with the summer shades of his partner’s. His jaw was a hard line of tension, and his hips shifted and rolled. His leg locking around Lance as he pushed up, trying to get the other to falter. If Keith could get the upper hand, this wouldn’t even be a contest.

Lance continued to smirk, but now his eyes glinted mischievously. Keith thought he could win this hm? Well there was no way he was going to let that happen. He straightened himself up so he could get a better view of the one below him. His eyes followed each movement of the other man's lips. The way his cheeks flushed and took on a slightly different shade of pink than he would have expected. His eyes followed the angles of his face, which he never really got a good chance to look at before, but then again, he had never been this close to Keith without either of them yelling about something or other. 

He slowed the rubbing of his leg, but only long enough to drag his hand from Keith's hip to his stomach, his fingers sliding under that black shirt and slowly questing upwards when he resumed the movement of his thigh once more.

“Lance! Ah!” The cry from Keith came first as a curse when he felt those cool fingers press against the heated flesh of his stomach, but it ended in undeniable moan muffled by the hand that came up to silence his traitorous mouth.

He couldn't help but chuckle at Keith's little outburst, but it didn't stop Lance from sliding his hand up his stomach, pushing his shirt up with his wrist. "Hm? What is it?" He leaned down and kissed Keith's fingers. "You don't want me to hear how good you feel?"

“S-shut it… nng…! Do you even know what you’re doing? Aha!” Keith pushed Lance’s face up with his hand, making sure to smoosh his lips and his nose. “It doesn’t mean--" Keith’s eyes widened suddenly, his head whipping to the door seconds before the soft chime signaled the arrival of someone else.

“Keith,” Shiro’s soft baritone called out to the young paladin from beyond the door. “Do you have a moment?”

Keith sat up straighter, his eyes darting back to Lance, desperate and pleading for him to stay silent as he tried to get himself under control. He reached out and gripped the former blue paladin’s wrist in case he wanted to get up.

Lance started to move away, but he stopped when that hand caught him, and he looked down at Keith, holding his gaze. He said nothing, but his brows furrowed and he frowned again, and he remained completely steady and still. 

“Keith?” There was concern in the call from outside the door.

“I’m, sorry Shiro. I’m a bit tired right now,” Even as Keith replied to Shiro, he couldn’t look away from Lance’s eyes. 

“Oh, alright then.” Shiro started, “Get some rest. We’ve all had a long day. I’m sure everyone could use it. Good night.” 

“You too.” Keith leaned up, his eyes still glued to Lance’s. Watching his every move as if he could read his thoughts. When he heard the footsteps leave down the hall, Keith could do little else but nuzzle against Lance’s cheek. 

“Stay.” Keith whispered, as if everything Lance had accomplished was nothing. He felt those darker emotions start to flood back into his body, and he didn’t want to be alone. “We can stop if you want, but stay.” 

"I don't want to stop." Lance whispered in return, his eyes starting to close at the nuzzle. "But I am going to check the door and make sure it's locked in case he comes back..."

Keith let the other go, his lip worrying between his teeth before he shifted a little on the bed. He felt uneasy when Lance got up and decided to make it a harder for the younger man to leave him. 

He lifted his shirt off, over his head. Chocolate locks falling in a cascade over his shoulders and ears, and he let the shirt drop to the floor when Lance turned back to come to the bed. Despite the boldness of his invitation, Keith’s eyes focused only quickly on Lance’s face then shifted back down the floor. It wasn’t the first time Lance saw Keith half naked. The mood of the room changed it completely from an awkward meeting in an elevator, to a proposition from a young man who had no idea what was ever expected of him, in any situation, much less this. So, like he always did, he pushed the envelope further.

Lance moved quickly to the door and made sure all the appropriate precautions were in place. When he turned around, he blinked and couldn't stop himself from staring. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't for Keith to half-strip. And while he had seen him shirtless before, he wasn't thinking about sex when he saw it. Now, he couldn't help himself, and his gaze traced every muscle, following each perfectly chiseled line, darkening the lower he looked. He was only able to tear his gaze away from that defined body when his eyes caught the waistline of Keith's pants. 

He smiled a bit when he composed himself. "Oh, I see." He murmured and pulled his jacket off, tossing it to the floor. Fair was fair, after all, and if Keith was going to distract him with his abs, he would try to do the same. He pulled his shirt off and also tossed it to the floor as he took slow steps back towards the bed.

Like Keith knew he would, Lance met him where was at, but what he wasn’t ready for was his own reaction to the paladin. Keith’s breath hitched again, his throat became dry, and his heart started to rapidly pound against his rib cage. 

Lance hadn’t been just talk. He had been training. Muscles flexed under brown skin, tight and lean. The urge to touch him brought Keith up to his knees, watching Lance approach as if every step was permission for Keith to breathe. He reached out his hand, and the tips of his fingers traced the lining of an ab, then up the center of his stomach to his chest. This wasn’t the lanky weed Keith met once in passing at the Garrison. What stood before him, bathed in pale blue light, was a Paladin of Voltron. 

“You’ve worked hard. Haven’t you?” Keith tilted his head up to him, searching Lance’s face.

"You haven't been doing too badly yourself." Lance's voice pitched a little. Those gentle touches were almost too much to bear. He leaned down and kissed Keith once more, his hands resting on the other paladin's hips to hold himself steady.

“I’m not talking about me.” Keith whispered. His hand resting on Lance’s cheek as he pushed himself back on the bed, pulling the other man with him as he laid back to one elbow before sinking into the bed. He guided Lance with him, kissing him several times as they settled back, his other hand continuing its gentle touches over every newly discovered muscle and sinew. 

"But I was." Lance smiled when he settled above Keith, one hand lifting from his hip to stroke his cheek. He could feel his excitement in the pit of his stomach, and he did his best to shift so that his soon to be obvious arousal wasn't so obvious yet. "I've never been so attracted to anyone before." He whispered before kissing him. 

“How is that possible? You find everything attractive.” Keith’s voice was warm despite the barbarous words. “Most women, anyway. How do I fit in to that category?” He groaned into his mouth, his tongue slipping over Lance’s lower lip.

"You don't fit in that category. You're way better." Lance kept smiling, even with the lick to his lower lip. "Way...way better." And as if to prove his point, he slid his hand from Keith's cheek, his fingers tracing down his jaw and along his neck. "The best."

“Enlighten me. Or is all your ridiculous poetry reserved for others?” Not that the one liners ever got Lance anywhere. They were, at the very least, endearing. “Nnn.” Keith nearly purred at the touch to his neck, shifting his body a little and feeling the enticing contact of Lance’s bare stomach pressed against his own; warm, hard, and sticky with slight perspiration as nervousness and arousal clashed into a brew of youthful need. 

"None of that is really serious." Lance murmured as he slid his fingers along his neck and down Keith's collarbone, almost groaning at the full contact of their bodies. If it felt this good now, how was it going to feel when they took the rest of their clothing off? "If I can concentrate enough to come up with something good, then I'm concentrating on the wrong thing." He leaned down and kissed Keith, muffling the soft groan that escaped his lips.

Keith’s arms wrapped around Lance’s shoulders. Smiling as his fingers slipped easily through his hair. “Curls. Never would have guessed. Is that why you keep it cut so short?” Keith wasn’t sure, but it seemed to him that he found his new favorite thing. The little natural cowlicks that made sure Lance’s hair would never lay flat. “Is the type of thing I find myself concentrating on.”

"I don't mind, but I think I would like it if you concentrated on something else..." Lance murmured and almost groaned again at the attention to his hair. There was no use hiding it now, and he pressed himself against Keith so the other paladin could feel just how happy he was to be in this position.

“Nm…” There came that soft whimper once more. A silent stubborn plea, before he finally voiced the question that was on his mind since Lance woke him up. “What do you want, Lance?” One hand continued to play with younger man’s hair. The other dragged down the shell of Lance’s ear, down his jaw, and up under his chin, tilting his head down to him as his thumb ran just under his bottom lip, already swollen and red from kissing.

Lance couldn't stop the groan that escaped his lips as Keith touched him so gently, but with enough urgency that he was forced to look down at his partner. "You..." He whispered, his eyes seeming to darken just at the thought, the heat in his pants straining even more than it had moments before. "I want you, Keith...."

“How?” Keith whispered, his breath blowing teasingly against Lance’s lips. 

Lance arched a brow a bit. "How? Really? I'm pressing myself against you and you have to ask HOW?"

“Well.” Keith blinked a few times. “Yeah. I mean, I’ve never done it.” His head cocked to one side, his eyes large and innocent. 

“I understand the principle. It’s not hard to figure out. But... umm…” There it was, that red shade coming back to the former upper classman’s cheeks. “How? I…” 

Keith’s hands slid down Lance’s shoulders, chest, and to his hips, fingers looping into the belt bands of his jeans. “If you know. You can show me.” His eyes flickered up, then back down, the blush getting darker as it obvious Keith was hoping against hope that Lance understood what he was saying, without the ranking paladin having to explain it.

"Well I've never done it either..." Now Lance could feel his cheeks getting hot. He couldn't remember the last time he blushed, but here he was, looking down at Keith, hard and horny almost beyond hope, but he was blushing. "But...but I know how." He cleared his throat a little and looked off to the side as if that would alleviate the heat in his face. "If you want it."

“I trust you.” 

Lance's cheeks flared even darker. That was the most innocent response, and it almost made him feel bad for what was about to happen. Almost. He leaned down and kissed Keith, whispering. "Trusting me isn't the same as wanting me, though."

“I thought that part was obvious?” Keith accepted another kiss from Lance as he took the paladin’s hand and brought it down to feel the strain against his own jeans. He gently pressed his hand down against him, his eyes closing slightly as he grunted his startled pleasure, as if he had no idea what he would feel when he put Lance’s hand against himself. Bravado had left him and his hips lifted and ground against the hand that tortured him, even has he was the one that kept it there.

"Can't be too sure..." Lance rubbed him through his pants a bit. "But I guess it is pretty obvious." Then he whispered. "Me too." He took Keith's other hand and pressed it to himself, so he could feel him too. "See?" He murmured, leaning down and kissing him.

“Lance!” Keith bent his head up to Lance’s shoulder, whimpering as he kept his own hand moving, while his hips continued to look for release against the building pressure. 

Lance grunted and pressed his lips to Keith's head. "Pants...off first...or it'll be messy." He moaned as Keith moved his hand, and he continued to move his own, but after a moment he stopped and fumbled with Keith's pants. "Off..."

“Off.” Keith repeated, and obeyed the command, his hands nimbly opening his pants, leaving it to Lance to push the offending clothing down, then kicked aside as if he never had an attachment to them anyway. 

Now there he was. Keith, former red paladin, current leader and head of Voltron, the only one of them to take on Zarkon in direct combat, now lay naked and exposed below the paladin who antagonized him the most. If the dark-haired youth felt a shred of shame, there was no evidence in his eyes. Keith was too practical to feel that now, or to offer even a hint of regret. 

No, practical wasn’t the word. Keith was too Galra for the concept regret or shame to hit him in this capacity. To Keith, this was natural progression. Instinct. Need. He wanted something and he was going to have it. Keith didn’t feel shame in hunger, or thirst. All drives that the body depends on. What was happening between the two paladins, right now, was just that. Attraction, desire, and need. 

Lance let out a puff of air when he tossed Keith's pants aside. He sat up and looked the other man over, his eyes lingering on the very flesh he had been rubbing moments before. He never really thought it would come to this. He always found Keith infuriatingly attractive, and that may have been part of why he antagonized him. But here, now, he had to admit that the sight of the other paladin's naked body drove him to desire he never felt before. There wasn't anything he could say that wouldn't sound stupid, so he simply lowered his hand once again and started to touch Keith's heat. His fingers were gentle, almost timid. He hadn't touched anyone else's before, just his own, and so he watched Keith's face to see if he was doing all right.

“Eeng!” The lithe frame of the shorter paladin arched to Lance’s touch. The moan that escaped him was layered in feral heat, and imbued with honey-thick whimpers as his hips found a rhythm to move with Lance’s hand. 

“It’s hot, Lance.” Keith gasped again. “Ah!” He moaned louder and the hitch of his voice became soft mewls of drunken pleasure. 

Those little mewls of pleasure were going to drive him crazy. Lance groaned a little just from the sounds, and he couldn't even imagine how much better his partner was going to sound in the throes of his ecstasy. He wanted to hear them, though, so he curled his hand around Keith and started moving it slowly, still watching his face. "It's supposed to be hot, Keith." He managed to whisper, his own voice trembling in anticipation.

“Lance!” Keith's eyes shot wide open, lips parting to allow a second more desire-filled moan of the younger man’s name. He felt like his whole form consisted of nothing more than the nerves that danced and twitched to Lance’s command. The sense of losing himself was terrifying, but as he watched the other paladin observe him with heated eyes, Keith gave in. It wasn't about a competition any more. Lance was focused on only Keith. No challenges. No battles for supremacy. Lance’s lust darkened eyes only wanted to see Keith, to make him feel something no one else had or could. 

Keith’s head turned to the side, his voice becoming soft whispered moans as his legs spread further apart to allow Lance a better position against him. His tongue moistened his lips, still tasting the lingering salt of the Cuban man’s kiss. 

"Damnit." Lance muttered. Keith was trying to kill him, wasn't he? He groaned again at those sounds and leaned in, his lips nuzzling Keith's ear as he moved his hand over him. "Keith..." He half-whispered half-moaned his name. 

“Ah!” Keith gasped, his head turning into the soft press of Lance’s cheek, his hips starting to move faster in urging thrusts, while his fingers dug into the slender man’s back. "Some… something wrong?”

"Nnn. No. Nothing's wrong. Nothing at all." Lance moved his hand to match the pace Keith was setting with his hips. "Is something wrong for you?"

“N-no.” Keith’s hips jerked up. “I, I ca... I can't hold… AH!” In a final quiver, everything came forth from him. Tension and pleasure released in a tidal wave of ecstasy, which left the young man's back in an indulgent bend up from the bed, seeking out Lance’s warmth.

Lance moved himself enough so that the evidence of Keith's pleasure didn't stain his own pants, and he silently berated himself for leaving them on at a crucial moment. But that quickly ended when he watched the way Keith's body arched, so instead of thinking about anything else, he leaned in to kiss him. "You liked it hm?"

“Nnnm.” Came a murmur of appreciation. “Is that how you do it?” Keith's raspy voice asked as he settled back on the bed, smiling in languid decadence. His fingers lazily touching Lance’s lips. 

"That's one way to do it." Lance smiled down at him before he kissed those fingertips. "And since you liked it, maybe I'll do it again for you some time." He grinned a little, winking before he shook his head and kissed him.

Keith would have purred into that kiss if he could. He didn’t know another person could make him feel this, well this good. Wanted, longed for, desired, a sense of companionship that went beyond what he’d shared or given with anyone else, so when Lance was about to pull away from that kiss, Keith kept it going, sucking at his lip, then his tongue. “Stay.” He repeated the earlier command. 

"Are you at least going to let me take my pants off?" Lance murmured after Keith caught him again. "Or do you want me to keep them on?"

“Anything you want.” Even as Keith answered, his hands were already moving down to pull away the jeans, bending up and shifting his weight just enough to pull the pants down and tossing them aside completely nonplussed about his display of flexibility. 

Lance's eyes widened. He wasn't even sure HOW Keith was able to get his pants off without seeming to move that much, but there he was, straining in his underwear, and he stared down at the other paladin. "These too?"

“Make me do all the work?” Keith grinned as he kissed him, his hands slipping down to remove the final article of clothing. “Now what? What do you want me to do?”

"I would've done it." Lance pouted and looked down at him. "I would have done it all slowly so you couldn't help but be seduced by how good I look." But his pout shifted to a grin and he leaned down to kiss him, whispering against his lips, "What do you want to do?"

“What do I want?” Keith felt breath of a laugh leave his lips. “You’re already doing what I want. You’re here.” 

"So you just want me to be here?" Lance shook his head and sat up, pointing to himself. "Look at me! I am naked for you, and you just want me to stay? You don't want to mess around or anything?"

“I am looking at you. I’ve been looking at you.” Keith sat up, his chin resting on the other’s shoulder while his hand moved over the one caramel colored thigh. “I want you to stay. Make a mess of me.” His hand lifted and turned Lances face toward his own. “You want that, don’t you?”

Lance's leg moved slightly at the attention to his thigh. "Y... Yes. But if you didn't, I wouldn't." He looked at Keith when his face was turned and he pouted. "I'm not a jerk, you know." He lifted a hand to touch the other paladin's cheek, his fingers stroking a bit, and he marveled at just how perfect the other man's skin was before he slid one down his jaw. "And if you want me to make a mess of you, I will make a mess of you." He crushed his lips in a rather hot kiss, one with a little more desperation than the ones before.

“Do it.” Keith whispered after the kiss. “I want it. And you’re not allowed to forget this.” His head tilted to the side, kissing him again, nuzzling his lips, his chin, then his jaw. “I want you, Lance.”

"What kind of idiot do you think I am if you think I'm going to forget this?" Lance grumbled a little after those kisses. "But you wanted me to make a mess of you, right? So..." He rested his hand on the one Keith had his thigh, and he pushed it up to his heat, holding it there. "So you should make me make the mess..."

“You are a pretty big idiot.” Keith nuzzled Lance’s cheek, making sure he could feel the smile on his lips as he kissed the corner of his eye, then down his jaw. “Look where you are? How is this not idiotic?” When Keith felt Lance’s sex in his hand, his fingers twitched. They were unpracticed, uncertain and hesitant. But he moved his fingers down the skin. Lane was so hard and his flesh was so hot, it amazed Keith. “You’re like this, because I did this to you, hm?”

"How Is this idiotic?" Lance moaned when Keith started to move his fingers. "Yes. Yes, you did this to me." He looked at him with dark eyes, his tongue coming out to wet his own lips. 

Keith did not let his tongue escape him. He leaned in and captured it, taking it into his mouth, sucking at it before he twisted his own against him, pushing it deep into Lance’s mouth. He explored every part of the former blue paladin that he could, taking in every new taste he found, while his fingers continued their work before wrapping completely around him.

The only sound Lance could make was a muffled moan. The hand he had holding Keith's slipped from it and rested on the bed in an attempt to steady himself. His eyes started to close, and he kept trying to kiss him.

“How is it?” Keith asked as he pulled away, his eyes feral and hungry as he watched the other.

"Nnn." Lance couldn't formulate a more intelligent reply, his hips moving a bit as his eyes opened enough to see Keith's face.

Something wicked glinted in the dark-haired boy’s eyes and Lance didn’t have to wait long to figure out what. The smaller frame of fine ivory coated muscle and soft warm flesh leaned to him. The scent of creosote after a desert rain lingered around the man even after all this time. The sweet smell mixed into an intoxicating perfume as it combined with the arousal and musk. 

“This is how I do it.” Keith’s low honey dipped voice whispered, with each syllable designed to imprint the image in Lance’s head. Keith’s flushed curled up body, sheened in sweat, as his hand worked vigorously to quell the physical demands of youth. 

Keith wrapped his hand tighter around him, moving it faster. “But I don’t make the same sounds you made me make. Or the same ones you’re making now.” Keith nipped at Lance’s jaw. “I like it.”

"Y-Yeah, well..." Lance groaned and kept looking at him through half-lidded eyes. "It feels better when someone else does it for you, doesn't it...?" He managed to moan the words out, his head bowing a little. The thought of Keith doing this to himself made the whole thing much, much hotter. "I'm..." He grunted as that surge of pleasure came over him and he released, his eyes closing completely as he did.

 

“Eh?” Keith blinked and sat back a little, eyes wide and curious as he looked down on the white traces of Lance’s pleasure as it lined his hand and smeared over his own stomach. The look wasn’t disgust, it was a surprised innocence. Like he honestly hadn’t been expecting that result. 

Lance opened his eyes and looked at Keith, his own chest heaving as he panted a bit for air. How could he look so surprised? "Didn't you just say you wanted me to make a mess of you?" He arched a brow. "Why do you look so shocked that I did? Didn't you know what would happen?" But he wasn't bothered by it. If anything, Keith's seeming innocence made him sexier somehow. 

“I- I’ve just never seen someone else do that. Or…” Keith splayed his hand as if to prove a point. He sat back on his leg and looks over the other boy. He had to admit, he was proud of himself. He made Lance look like the wonton mess he was now. “So?” He brought his dirtied hand up to his lips and licked one finger clean. His eyebrow tilted up at the taste. It wasn’t good, it wasn’t bad. It just was. Salty. “What now?”

Lance's eyes widened. "W-What are you doing?" Why was he licking it up? How could Keith be on both ends of the innocent and sexy spectrum at the same time! It wasn't fair! It was so frustratingly arousing that Lance felt it happening again, and he just kind of stared at him, his hands in his own lap to hide his renewed problem.

Keith blinked, his hand freezing. “Something wrong?” 

"No!" Lance squeaked and shook his head. "No, but why are you licking it?"

“I was curious? And I didn’t see a tissue, and it’s all over me.” With that same hand, Keith lowered it to the rest of Lance’s semen on his stomach. He smeared his hand over it trying to catch it all up but the substance only spread more over that otherwise near perfect skin.

Lance kept his hands firmly in his lap, the heat seeming to spread all over his body, but manifesting especially in his cheeks, which he could feel were burning. "But it probably tasted bad! And you're making more of mess! Are you trying to kill me here?"

“No. Why would I do that?” Keith leaned forward again, his clean hand touching Lance’s cheek. “It didn’t taste bad. I don’t mind it.” He smiled warmly at the other boy before he snuggled up to his cheek. “It’s yours, so it’s okay. And we’re not done yet. Right? There’s more you want to do. Show me.” He whispered as he kissed him. 

"I think you're trying to kill me. I think you have no idea that you're doing it, but you're definitely doing it!" Lance couldn't help nuzzle his hot cheek against Keith's hand after that kiss. "You're frustratingly innocent and sexy at the same time and it's almost too much." He kissed him again and moaned a bit into it. "Sex... I want to..."

“Innocent? I don’t get called that too often.” Keith shrugged his shoulders. “As long as you don’t hate it tho-“ Keith was cut off by that last kiss and Lance’s request. 

“I thought, that was what we were working up to?” Keith gave a wolfish grin. “I want to too. If you’re sure it’s something you want.” He pressed his slender body up to Lance and guided him to lay back the bed facing him, their legs tangled together. Keith’s hand rested on his cheek, as his thumb rubbed tenderly over Lance’s kissed bruised lips. “Then I want to be yours.”

"I think...it's a little obvious that's what I want." Lance ended up pressing his full heat against one of Keith's thighs, eyes darkening once again at the contact. "But...You have to be ready for it." All of those videos he watched were about to culminate in this moment, and he liked to think he learned something from them. "I don't want to hurt you." He kissed Keith and slowly untangled himself from him.

“Will it hurt?” Keith thought about it for a moment, and some pain certainly made sense. “I’m okay with it.” His eyes danced between Lance’s. “If it hurt all the time, people wouldn’t do it so much, right?” He kissed Lance again for reassurance. “Even if it’s uncomfortable at first, it will be okay. Beside you’d never let yourself be bad at something you can brag about.” Keith tapped Lance’s lips. 

"The only one I'd brag to about this is you." Lance kissed those fingers at his lips. "I don't want anyone else knowing how sexy you are. Not if you and I are like this." He kissed them again, but this time he slid his tongue over one of them and took it into his mouth, looking at Keith as if to prove a point he wasn't even sure he was trying to make. He pulled back and stood, shaking his head. "But I still want to make sure it hurts as little as possible if I'm going to end up hurting you just because of what it is..."

“You and I are like…this?” Keith blinked at the words, then blushed darkly. Keith didn’t think about anything past the next few moments. Lance was already on to tomorrow, the next day, and further out than that. Keith didn’t even hazard a guess as to all this meant for the two Paladins from here on. They would be, they were, they would be a they. A them. Together. Moments like these were just the first of a possibility of many. Someone to come back to. Someone to wait for him. Someone’s lap to curl into. Lance would never shut him down, or turn him away. Lance would never let Keith be alone. 

Twilight shaded eyes look up at Lance as he stood over the bed, and he Keith felt them start to burn and sting with a sensation he buried away a long time ago. “Lance, I…” He had already taken the man’s hand as he pulled himself up to his knees. He turned his head into it, kissing the palm tenderly then each digit after that.

"So you're okay with all of that then?" Lance watched Keith kiss his fingers, and any flush in his cheeks that had faded just flared right back up again. "I don't care if people know we're together, but I don't want anyone else knowing how sexy you are when you're doing things to me, or how cute you are when something you didn't expect happens..." He leaned down and kissed Keith's forehead. "Some things are only meant to be shared between two people." He nuzzled his hair a bit before he straightened up again, "Let me get something that might help, okay?"

Like an over pleased kitten Keith leaned into Lance’s touch. “How I am with you, is only for you.” He promised as he watched Lance with wonder in his eyes. He was too kind and too giving for his own good. Keith wanted to protect that part of Lance. He never wanted him to suffer in the ways they were all bound to before this war ended. A selfish part of Keith wanted to keep it all to himself. This doting, indulgent side of Lance, but even as the thought formed in his head, he realized how unfair of a demand something like that would have been. 

"And the same goes for me, hm?" Lance smiled at Keith, but then he leaned in and kissed him lingeringly before pulling back. "Be patient, hm?" He stepped back and walked slowly towards the bathroom, mostly because he wanted to make sure Keith got a nice long look at his backside.

Keith smirked as he watched Lance step away from him, his eyes following the shape of his body, down to the narrow of his spine. His lips parted with the speeding of his heart and breath. A giddy thrill, filling up the young paladin and he all but threw himself back on the bed, his hands coving his face.

Lance looked around the bathroom, lips pursing slightly. There had to be something in here he could use to make the next step a little easier. He glanced around until he saw something, grabbing the bottle and quickly sniffing the contents before he nodded and walked back out into the other room. He blinked at Keith. "...Do you want to stop?"

“Eh?” Keith turned his head to the side, ink black hair spreading over a rose-colored cheek, his ivory skin taking on the cold glow of the inlayed lights. “Why?” 

"Well, why else would you be hiding your face?" Lance walked to him and sat on the edge of the bed. 

“I…” Keith sighed and pulled his hands away from his face, and reached to touch Lance’s. “I felt a little overwhelmed for a second. You, have no idea how you can look to other people, do you? Despite all your flirts, and come ons, you should give yourself more credit.” 

"I overwhelmed you?" Lance tilted his head towards Keith's hand, but he blinked. "What do you mean? How do I look?"

“Of course! You’re good looking, fit, and I’m not exactly straight.” Keith said in exasperated and forward honesty. “And you’re going to strut around naked in front of me. What did you think it would do to me? I’m already like this.”

"Well I know I'm naked, but I don't know what you mean. How I look? What are you saying?" Lance blinked again and opened the bottle he brought from the bathroom. "You should lay back."

“I’m saying you're attractive. Alarmingly so. Mind numbingly, aggravatingly, attractive in every sense of the word, and it’s driving me crazy.” Instead of laying back he pushed his body forward and pressed his forehead up to Lance’s. “Follow me?”

"Then you should have said that in the first place." Lance kissed him. "I don't care how I look to other people. I do care how I look to you." He grinned and kissed him again. He couldn't help it. It felt good to hear Keith say those things. 

With the kiss he laid back again. “I’m surprised there was any question. Have you been in this room with me all night?” Keith’s nose scrunched up in the most peculiar expression.

"I'm not exactly thinking about much besides what's about to happen. Don't blame me for that." Lance leaned over him and kissed him, one hand resting on one of Keith's thighs and gently pushing it open. "Are you still sure you want to do this?"

“I am. Are you? There’s no coming back from this.” Keith smiled. “There’s no coming back from any of this. Are you prepared?”

Lance nodded. "You don't need to worry about any of that." He smiled a little and coated his fingers. "You're going to need to lift your hips. Tell me to stop if it's too much..."

“O-oh? Okay.” Keith laid himself back and lifted his hips from the bed; his muscles flexed, accenting and deepening his love lines.

Lance watched Keith's face as he began to ready him, using one finger to start, his other hand holding the back of one of his thighs. He made sure each movement was as gentle as possible, ready to stop at a moment's notice.

Black eyebrows crunched in, and his hips jerked with the first intrusion of the long slender digit. He lifted one of his legs to Lance’s shoulder, trying to give Lance the easiest path to him. It didn’t hurt, but it felt strange to have first one finger then another pushing deeply inside, stretching him to accommodate what was to come next. “L-lance…”

"Is it too much?" Lance continued to watch Keith's face as he moved his finger, only adding another when Keith seemed to be relaxing a little. "Should I stop?" He didn't want this to be so unpleasant than Keith resented him for it, but he was also turned on even more with that leg against his shoulder. Keith really couldn't be that innocent when he was doing things like that, could he?

“Stop asking that. I won’t stop… I want this just as badly as you. Keep going. I’ll tell you if I can’t handle something.”

"All right." Lance shook his head a little and continued to prepare him, still watching his face. "All right..." When he was done, he pulled his hand back and inched closer. "Ready?"

“I’m ready.” Keith pulled Lance down to him, his arms wrapping around his neck, fingers playing gently with those adorable cowlicks. “Do it. But kiss me when you do.”

"I can do that." Lance grinned and shifted a bit, lining himself up and holding onto one of Keith's hips, leaning down and kissing him as he inched into him, groaning into it.

Keith’s hissed softly, exhaling the tension in his body as his leg hooked tighter against Lance’s shoulder. “Enng.”

Lance's gripped both of Keith's hips once he was inside, grunting just slightly as he slowly started to move. His own hips tried to move a little wildly, but he forced himself to be as careful as possible. "Hold...onto me...if you need to."

Before the invitation could leave Lance’s lips, Keith had pulled the taller boy down to him, arms tight around his slender shoulders, fingers trying hard not to squeeze too tightly in the short brown locks of the other. It hurt, it was clumsy but Keith didn’t want it to stop. “I’m okay.”

"I'm sorry..." Lance whispered when Keith gripped his hair a bit too hard, but he didn't stop his hips. He moved, trying to keep it an even pace, trying to keep it as gentle as he could, even as he whimpered and climaxed.

Keith panted softly against his Lance’s cheek. “How… a-are you?” His fingers loosened in Lance's hair, and his hands started to slip to the bed.

"Don't...worry about me..." Lance moaned the words out, his hips still moving, but he slid one hand from Keith's hips to wrap around his heat, his eyes dark. "I want you to feel good."

“Ah! LANCE!” Keith’s body arched from the bed, eyes wide hair and sweat tossing together making it stick to his forehead and neck. His body tensing up with the stimulation. “Ah! HA!” Hearing his own cries echoing back, he bit down on his lip to silence his moans.

"Better..." Lance grunted and tried to move his hand over Keith the same pace he moved his hips. It didn't always work that way, as he was rather inexperienced, but he did try. "But let me hear you." 

“What if they hear … nng!” Keith's voice cut off into a sudden cry of ecstasy. Lance hit something inside of him, something that took the breath right from his lungs, and his nails dragged over the tan skin of his lovers back.

Lance continued to move his hips and his hand, trying to keep his pace from quickening too much. He shook his head slightly and groaned at the nails dragging over his back. "The walls should be thick enough." He managed before kissing him and moaning into his mouth.

“Ah aah! I… AHA!” Fire. Hot white fire burned inside Keith’s body. More intense than anything he’d experienced before. “Lance! LANCE! AH!!!” He thrust his hips down and his chest up against the other paladin’s. Their bodies pressed flush together as Keith’s cry became broken and silent climax. 

There was no way Lance could hold out anymore after that. Keith's body arching into him like that, and his tightening around him made Lance fall over that edge again. He moaned, his eyes closed, his fingers pressing a little harder into Keith's hip as the other one let him go, and he rode it out. He grunted a bit when it was all over, pulling out of his partner as his chest heaved a bit, his lungs trying to catch more air.

“Nn…” The black-haired paladin whimpered when Lance left him empty, but he didn’t have the energy to form any further complaints as his hands fell to his stomach and beside the bed. Sweat and afterglow radiating from the sated relaxed exotic form of the Galraian hybrid. His tongue slipped over parched lips, then coaxed over what looked like tiny fangs in his teeth. Keith appeared as though he could start purring at any second as the last of the tremors left his body.

"You definitely can't let anyone else see you like this." Lance murmured and leaned down to nuzzle Keith's cheek, taking the hand the other paladin let fall to the bed. He brought that hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it, letting his lips brush over the knuckles. "No one else." He let go only to lay on the bed next to Keith, turning his body on his side so he could see him better. "You're like a cat."

“A cat?” Heavy lidded eyes opened slightly to look at Lance. “Who else do you think would ever have the chance to see me look like a ‘cat’?” One of the fingers Lance kissed lifted to poke his nose. “No one else would be dumb enough to come in here, and try this.”

"I wouldn't be so sure no one else would..." Lance's eyes crossed at the poke of the nose. He draped one arm over Keith's chest and curled a little close so he could nuzzle his shoulder. "But I'll just have to sleep with you every night to keep someone else from trying to sneak in."

“I think your fear is a little unfounded.” Keith raised an eyebrow, but was willing to let the point drop when he turned his head to kiss Lance’s forehead as the younger man cuddled into him. It felt surprisingly nice to be held like this. Cherished. Protected. “Well, if I’m cat then you’ll just have to be the loyal dog.” Keith chuckled tiredly.

"I certainly seem to wag my tail a bit around you." Lance murmured into his shoulder and nuzzled. "Sleepy..."

“As long as your house trained.” Keith laughed against Lance’s hair line, his hand bent up to idly play with a strand or two at the nape of his neck. 

"I won't pee on you. Don't worry." Lance's laugh was soft, and he just kept nuzzling, groaning a little at the fingers in his hair. "I won't promise not to lick you or try to hump you though..."

“You had to go there.” Keith shook his head. “I’ll get a shock collar,” A yawn and a stretch broke up his sentence. “if I … have to…” His voice trailed off in soft steady breathing.

Lance shook his head and shifted so his head was on the pillow, curled over Keith as he fell asleep.


	2. Brace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lovely commissioned fanart for this story done by Monsir.  
> [ I will hold you up](http://charred-ground.tumblr.com/image/164412646641)
> 
> Here's their Tumblr:  
> [ Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)

Normally when Lance woke up with something in his arms, it was his pillow or his blanket, wrapped in some sort of desperate grip for security after a particularly brutal nightmare. Or he would be completely tangled up and unable to move properly for a dozen ticks or so before he calmed down enough to break free. He would be cold, or feel sick to his stomach, or be drenched in a fear-induced sweat. It was never pleasant, and luckily it wasn't often.

However, this morning the feeling of holding something in his arms was a thousand times better. It was soft and warm, and he just wanted to nuzzle into that feeling. This was the way waking up was supposed to feel. Like warm rays of sunshine spread happiness through every part of his body. He didn't want this feeling to ever end, though as he opened his eyes and wrinkled his nose with the way some of Keith's hair tickled it, he knew that would be completely unrealistic.

But for now, for a few moments anyway, he could enjoy it. He could enjoy the way Keith's back was still slightly pressed against his chest, and how the smaller man had gripped the arm Lance had around him as though he didn't want it to leave. He closed his eyes again and nuzzled that dark hair slightly, breathing in some scent he couldn't quite identify, but that he knew he liked. "Mmm." He murmured with each little nuzzle, sinking into the warmth and focusing on it, mostly because Lance knew if he focused on the activities of the night before, he would want to do it again and again. Well, he did anyway, but at least he could spare the other paladin that first thing in the morning, right? 

A soft sigh followed by a dreamy moan were the only significant signs of life from the lump of blankets and pillows. If left to his own devices, Keith would easily sleep all day, curled up and spooned like this. Motivation and expectation were the only things forcing the garrison drop-out out of bed most days and it had become a habit. Until today. Today he wanted nothing more than to stay where he was. Warm and secure. Lance held him like he was some something cherished. It sounded like a storybook ending, but who in their right mind didn’t want to feel like they mattered to someone?

“Morning.” Keith turned his head into the crook of the arm he held, nuzzling his lips into the elbow.

"Morning..." Lance whispered and nuzzled that hair again. Yeah, he definitely wanted to wake up like this every morning. It just felt like this is how it should be. "How are you feeling? I didn't hurt you too badly did I?" And he would make damn sure he did everything he could to make sure Keith felt the same.

Sleepy blue eyes peered over a bare shoulder from behind a veil of thick lashes. “I haven’t tried to move yet.” Silhouetted by blankets, Keith’s narrow hips shifted, and he let out a sharp hiss. 

“Yeah, I’m a bit stiff. But it’s not too bad.” Despite Keith’s wince and his still swollen lips, he managed a smile. “How are you?”

"Sorry, but I'm also not sorry because it was amazing." Lance half smiled and gently pulled his arm from being draped over Keith so he could push some of that ebony hair out of his face. "You should probably stay in bed a little hm?"

“They’ll wonder where I am.” Keith snuggled after Lance’s hand, his eyes closing at his ministration.

"Then I'll tell them you're not feeling well after yesterday, and you just need some time to rest." Lance continued to play with his hair. "I'll bring you breakfast, and we can eat together okay?"

“You can tell them anything you want, as long as you keep doing that.” Keith settled his body back into the bed, getting lulled back to sleep by Lance’s long gentle fingers.

Lance continued to run his fingers through his hair, leaning down to kiss the top of his head once he settled in. "Just rest. I will wash up quickly and go get you food, okay?" He stroked his hair for a few more moments before he slowly got out of the bed and stretched, walking towards the bathroom so he could at least make himself presentable. 

He stood in front of the mirror and ran his fingers through his hair, looking at his own smug face and grinning the widest grin he ever had grinned. It was a wonder he didn't split his head in half. But he was so incredibly pleased. And that grin just stayed on his face throughout his quick shower, drying off, and tugging his clothes back on. That grin finally vanished and was replaced with a warmer smile when he looked down at Keith's sleeping form. He gently pulled the blankets up a little more and pushed one stubborn lock of hair out of his face before he turned and left the room.

Lance knew it would be a bad idea to make it super obvious that he just had sex with Keith, but as long as no one was in the hallway with him, it wouldn't hurt for there to be a little skip in his step as he hummed some happy little tune. 

When he got to the dining room, he stopped all of that nonsense. He waved a brief hello before grabbing two plates. "Keith's not feeling well, so I'm going to bring this to him and make sure he eats something."

“Oh? That’s quite… thoughtful of you Lance?” Allura looked up from her plate. Her iridescent eyes seemed perplexed by the words that came out of her own mouth, but she shook her head and an expression of concern took over her Altean features. “I certainly hope he didn’t catch anything. He’s been handling a lot of stress lately.”

“Agreed.” Shiro piped in. “A bit more rest will be good for him. I can’t think of another guy who’s earned it more. I can run any surveillance needed in the meantime.” 

"He had a very tough day yesterday." Lance was smiling at Allura, but he glanced over at Shiro and that smile almost faltered. "I don't think he's planning on neglecting any of his duties. I think he just wants a little more rest, so I told him I'd bring the food to him instead of him coming to the food."

Pidge looked up and blinked several times before exchanging a glance with Hunk. The latter said nothing, but she turned to Lance and smiled a little. "Please let Keith know we are here if he needs anything." 

"Thanks, Pidge." Lance carefully turned with both plates in his hands.

“I wasn’t suggesting that he was neglecting anything Lance.” Shiro’s smile warmed. “I’m happy to see you two getting along so well. I was worried for a while there.” Shiro started to clean up his plate, and offered an empty hand to take one of the trays from the younger paladin. “Why don’t you like me take that down to him? I need to speak with him.” He urged his hand forward to offer again. “Enjoy your breakfast. I'm done eating anyway.”

"Nah, I got this." Lance stopped mid-turn and looked at Shiro. He smiled, but he knew he wasn't giving him a genuine smile, and he barely looked at him before he turned and started walking to the door. He behaved himself as best he could. It took a lot of will-power not to tell Shiro his 'speaking with Keith' last night upset the new black paladin. I took even more will-power not to quip something snarky along those lines. And it took the most not to snap at his comment about him being worried about them.

Pidge cleared her throat. "Shiro, Hunk and I have some questions we want to ask you anyway, so if Keith isn't coming to breakfast, now would be a good time, wouldn't it?" 

“Hm?” Shiro watched after Lance, the line of his jaw tightening until he recognized Pidge had spoken to him. “Oh, sure.” He turned and settled back down at the table.

Lance ignored any other sounds that came from behind him and he exited the room, humming again as he carried the two plates of food back to Keith's room, balancing them carefully on one arm as he messed with the panel to open the door, but once that was done, he had one in each hand again as he stepped into the room. "I was able to buy us a little time." He said once the door shut behind him.

“Time for what, aside from breakfast?” Keith stood by his dresser, a towel barely hanging from his waist, hair dripping and clinging to his neck in black rivets. He may have washed away the remains of their night together, but the bruising of his flesh still showed the places Lance’s lips had lingered too long, or where his fingers pressed possessively into his hips. 

Lance almost dropped the plates when he finally looked up and saw him, his eyes widening a bit when he managed to catch them from slipping out of his hands. "Are you trying to turn me on again?" He moved to put the plates down, since his ability to hold them was waning, and instead he grabbed a small towel and walked to Keith, gently drying his hair. "Time away from the others. I told them you weren't feeling well...but Shiro seemed to want to speak with you. Pidge helped me out by distracting him."

“Turning you on, isn’t a challenge.” Keith gave Lance a level look through the mirror, but allowed him to dry his hair. “Pidge is the brains. She probably has this all figured out.” He stepped away from Lance, behind a door, still talking as he dressed. Keith was doing the paladin a courtesy by not letting him be seen completely naked. 

“I can’t avoid him all day. I’ll speak to him after we eat.” He came back, zipping his pants up as he did. Perhaps it was an illusion, a trick of the eye, but Keith’s normally close-fitting clothing seemed looser than usual.

"Hey! It's not my fault that you're too attractive for your own good!" Lance pouted, but then his brows furrowed and he reached out to touch his shirt. "Alone? Or do you want me with you?" Then he sighed. "And these didn't stretch when they were washed, did they? You need to eat, Keith..."

Gently, Keith swatted Lance’s hand away. “There’s been a lot going on. I just need a good burger and some fries.” He honestly seemed to be considering it for a second. “A milkshake. Man, that sounds good. See? Now, you’ve got me sounding like Hunk.”

Keith sat down at the small silver table in his room, watching Lance for a second. “Why are you uneasy about me being alone with him?” He shoveled something pink and sticky into his mouth.

Lance sat with him and poked at his food a little, his brows still furrowed. He sighed a bit and mentally ran through every possible reaction he could imagine if he told Keith he eavesdropped on him the night before. He should just be honest, but he didn't want to be pushed away. "I know there's a lot going on. You're just--" He shook his head and looked at him. "I went looking for you last night, to talk to you like I did when I found you asleep, but I almost walked in on you and him having your conversation. I should have just left. I know that, but..."

Keith’s dark eyes looked up from his plate, his spoon still in the goo, his other hand around a glass of green transparent liquid. “And?” 

Lance squirmed a little in his chair. "I didn't like it. I don't—Something didn't seem right. And this morning when I said you weren't feeling well, he just volunteered to do things, and it seemed off."

The scrutiny in Keith’s gaze was cold, calculated. He made no effort to hide that there was a litany of things he wanted to say, command, ask, or accuse the other man of but instead he sighed. “For now, keep it to yourself. He’s going through more than we could possibly guess. While we were flying around, playing at diplomats, Shiro was out there. Going through--” Keith’s shoulders slumped. “Who knows what.” He sat back in his chair, letting his spoon rest against the side of his dish. 

“We owe him a safe place. Until we all figure it out.”

Lance felt like he was shrinking under that gaze, and he fell silent, once again poking at the goo on his plate. Maybe he really should have kept it to himself, and he felt like an idiot for thinking Keith would even remotely want to listen. There wasn't even a point in agreeing with any part of what Keith was saying. Instead, he just mentally cursed himself out for trying to be honest with someone who clearly didn't want it. "Yeah, sure..." He stood and grabbed his plate, forcing a smile that was even less of a smile than the one he had given Shiro a few minutes ago. "Make sure you eat more." 

“Lance,” Keith reached his hand out to touch the one taking the plate. “Thank you. For what it’s worth.” His fingers moved over the back of darker boy’s hand, slipping under the cuff his jacket. His fingers trembling. 

“About what I said last night. I meant it. I’m trusting you. I don’t want it to come to this, but if I fall can you catch me?”

Lance's hand stopped lifting the plate when Keith touched him, and when he felt his fingers tremble, he sighed and looked at him. "You have to let me, and right now, you're not ready to trust me the way you say you are." He shook his head a little and pulled his hand away, taking a step towards the door. "That's okay you know. I shouldn't have said anything. Go have your talk...I'm sure everything is fine." That fake smile came back. 

Keith nodded his head, taking his hand back and closing it into a fist against the table, his head bowed and his eyes narrowed at the floor. “Yeah. I’m sure it is. I’ll see you for patrol.”

Lance paused at the door. "Yeah..." He shook his head and left Keith's room, mentally kicking himself for being an idiot. That happy feeling from this morning had been completely smothered. He should have known better. He shouldn't have said anything and kept his big stupid mouth shut. "Stupid." He muttered as he walked to bring his plate back.

\-----

Keith snapped his helmet in place and shifted his body around to allow for any adjustments to fall into place. 

“How are you feeling?” Keith turned toward Shiro. The smile on larger man’s lips was warm and patient but the gesture never made it to his eyes.

“A bit stiff, but feeling better. How are you?” Keith straightened his back as he looked over black-armored paladin. It was strange for Shiro to be in full gear, and Keith couldn't hide the quirk of his eyebrow. “Going somewhere?”

“It helps keeps me focused.”

“They say clothes make the man.” Keith replied with hopeful smile and started to step toward his lion when Shiro stopped him with a friendly pull on his arm. “Hm?”

“The controls can be a bit stiff at first. Make sure you relax your shoulders at night. It might be why you're feeling some soreness.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, anything else Shiro?” Keith didn't have the heart to say more than he had to, or to explain the real reason he was moving a little slower today. He got a sneaking feeling that it might not be a proper thing to share. “What did you want to talk about?”

“About what I said yesterday. I overstepped my bounds. I'm not used to having them.”

“You were concerned. This is still your team, Shiro. You--“

“But you are the one keeping it together.”

Keith shook his head. “I almost got us all killed. It’s never been just me.” Keith’s eyes found Lance. Something must have changed in his expression because when Shiro followed the younger man's gaze his face contorted into subtle confusion. 

“We've all been working hard since the last fight against Zarkon. We depend on each other, and watch out for one another. You and the Black Lion made me the Leader. But Voltron has never been about one person. I'm thankful I don't have to bear the load alone.”

Lance caught the look Keith shot his way, but he wasn't sure what to make of it. Maybe the former red paladin felt bad for how he reacted this morning. Maybe he wanted Lance to feel bad for just leaving after it. He honestly had no idea, but Lance wouldn’t react beyond a slight frown. Not when Shiro was now watching him too. Not when Shiro was too close to Keith and a little too touchy for him. Not after that strange feeling he got eavesdropping on the two of them the night before. Instead, Lance narrowed his eyes slightly, tugged his helmet on, and walked over to where Pidge was waiting. 

“I see.” Shiro titled his head and folded his arms across his chest, his expression thoughtful as he watched Lance board Red. “Well, in either case. Be careful. I'll support you from here. If anything shows up--“ 

“You'll let us know. I know. I know.” Keith smiled like a put-upon child. “See ya soon.” 

“Yeah.” Shiro smiled as the youth entered the Black Lion, but his focus returned to Red as her eyes lit up.

\-----

The mission was a success, and Lance felt a lot better now that his annoyance had been replaced with the adrenaline of it all. Some of the tension left his shoulders, and he was turning around to head back when his radio clicked and Shiro's voice came through. 

“Lance, we need you to get through on the tail of that comet. It’s breaking apart, but our sensors picked up a beacon on the rocky surface. Red is the best for the job. I'm sending you the coordinates now.”

He blinked. "Wait, what?" His brows furrowed. The radio crackled a bit and there was no response. "Shiro? What are you talking about? Keith? What is this?" 

"All right! Sounds like a plan--" Keith's voice came in next, and Lance sighed.

"Okay, you heard Keith, Red. Let's do this." Lance looked at the coordinates that came up on the systems and headed in that direction.

\-----

“What's going on?! Why is Lance still out there?!” Keith came on to the bridge, nodding to the other paladins who were hopping into their stations. His eyebrow twitched as Shiro stood up from the center chair, but Keith swallowed his wounded pride like a good little soldier. It was never meant to be ‘his’ in the first place. 

“I wanted him to check out one more thing.” Shiro pulled up an image on the screen, nonplussed by his protégé’s outburst. Keith stepped forward as a comet came into full burning view on the main screen. It was massive, with a dark wavering center surrounded by a light so white and bright Keith could only stare at it for a moment before it burned a ghost of itself into his cornea. 

“We picked up a distress beacon coming from that comet.” Shiro continued.

“From the comet?”

“We figured it probably got picked up along the way.” Keith turned to the redheaded older Altean who stood beside Allura. “These beacons are designed for extreme environments. One never knows where they could end up or what kind of alien life they encounter. It’s best to create them to be extremophiles. In a matter of speaking.” Coran supplied, earning himself a nod from Keith.

“You sent Lance?” Keith brought the conversation back to a more important direction, and nodded to Lance’s empty chair. “There?” Then to the comet.

“Comets are volatile as part of their existence. The beacon, if we are to get it, is still clinging to the rocky bits in the Comet’s coma.” Shiro spoke up once more giving Keith an uncomfortably cold look.

“To be more precise it’s a hybrid of an asteroid and a comet. Its trajectory should land in the center of this system’s star in under an hour.” Pidge continued, cutting Shiro off as the smallest paladin adjusted her glasses.

Keith looked up at the diagnostic she pushed to the main screen, providing an overlay for the image already there. Keith’s eyes narrowed slightly. He may have been a drop-out, but it wasn’t his grades that forced him out of The Garrison. 

“That thing is a freakin' bomb!” Keith looked at the center of image, the core of the hybrid’s geothermal readings along with the chemical composition showed a pocket of highly pressurized water vaper screaming for release. The core of the comet was already shaking and losing mass the closer it flew towards the massive white dwarf. To get to the inner coma, where the signal was reading, would be a complicated task for even Keith if he were flying Red. 

For Lance, this was a suicide mission.

“Call him back.”

“What?” Shiro looked up at Keith. The others in the room settled into an awkward silence and shared looks.

“Call. Him. Back. He’s still learning how to fly her. You can’t expect him to--“

“To what Keith?” Shiro straightened his back, standing taller than he had a moment ago and not turning away from the monitor. “Finish the mission? To do what you could?”

“That’s not what I’m saying.” Keith tilted his head up, his jaw set and his eyes darkened to seething coals.

“He is the paladin of the Red Lion. Lance can do this. You just need to trust him.” Shiro pushed, his voice softening.

“It’s not about that! He’ll get killed out there! I’m calling him back.” Keith marched over to the com system but Shiro’s hand took his wrist, squeezing it painfully in the Galran steel grasp. “Shiro!”

“Think about what you’re doing. If you call him back, you’re broadcasting your doubt to him. Have faith in the Lion’s choices. It picked Lance for a reason. Believe he can handle it. Trust me. Trust Lance.”

Keith’s hand balled in to a fist and he slowly let it drop to his side. He didn’t look at Shiro when lifted his head from the communication center. Instead he watched the monitor. He watched helplessly as the comet started to crack and split. There was a shudder in the air and a wave of energy before it vaporized into a billion particles of light and ionized dust.

Despite the beeping of monitors and the constant hum of machinery and technology, the bridge had never fallen so silent. Words didn’t come. There would be no amount that could antiquate what the former red paladin was about say. But his lips parted to speak, and as he drew in that first syllable of a breath, a roar echoed through the room. 

“Red!” Hunk exclaimed, tears in the corner of his eyes as he sat bolt right in his chair.

“Lance!” Pidge and Allura echoed each other, proud smiles on their faces as they watched the Red Lion streak across the screen in triumph, racing home.

Keith said nothing. He dropped his helmet to the floor and raced out of the room, slipping down into his old hatch, bypassing the pomp and circumstance of the zip line and hover ride, racing Lance back to Red’s compartment.

Red landed with an awkward clang of metal, head lowering to the ground, mouth opening as soon as it was close enough. Lance all but fell out of the lion, clutching his stomach with one hand, the other trembling to try to pull his helmet off. He gasped for air and almost fell to his knees, coughing and wincing as blood dripped down his chin. Pain tore through his body and he cried out, starting to fall forward, unable to catch himself.

“Lance!” There was a sudden sound of something sliding across the floor and the warm comfort of arms coming around the paladin. Keith had dived in, like a baseball player rounding home and caught the young man up in his arms before he made contact with the metal ground. 

Violently Lance’s helmet was tossed aside and replaced by warm feverish hands pulling and stretching at his cheeks. Dark indigo eyes looked to be on the verge of several different emotions, but too afraid to pick one as they studied the paladin’s face. “Lance?! Are you okay?”

Lance's eyes looked around wildly when his helmet was removed and his face was touched. They were glazed over with the sheen of immense pain when they finally found Keith's face, which was blurry no matter how many times he blinked. "If..." He coughed and turned his head to the side, more blood dribbling from his lips. "If...you're...ever that mad at me again...Yell at me, don't try to kill me." His voice faded a bit with each word until he went limp in Keith's arms, the pain finally overcoming him and causing him to lose consciousness.

 

When he woke, his eyes slowly opened and focused on the familiar ceiling above his bed. How long had he been out? How bad were his injuries? The sharp pain was gone, but there was a lingering soreness that spread throughout his chest and back. There was also a slight weight on his head, and he carefully turned it a bit to see the source. Keith was sitting beside his bed, book in one hand, the other arm outstretched. So the weight he felt was his hand resting on Lance's head. "Hey..." He croaked out, wincing at the broken sound of his voice.

“Hey, take it easy. We just got you out of the cryo-chamber.” Keith’s fingers moved gently through the short brown locks, a somber smile on his lips. His knuckle came down to smooth over the tender part of Lance’s cheek. “Do you need anything?”

Lance's eyes started to close at Keith's attentions. "How bad was it?" He winced at that hoarseness. He probably didn't really want to know, but he needed to. He honestly felt like he might die when that comet reacted and exploded around him, but Red had gotten him back in one piece, mostly, and he didn't really know what he did to deserve that. He had actually wondered if it would have been better to leave him out there to die in the midst of his inexperience, but the lion clearly didn't agree.

“A few broken ribs. A punctured lung. Concussion. So not too bad.” Keith’s sardonic tone faded into a sigh. “You scared me. You’re not allowed to do that again. Orders from ‘The Head.’ So, you have listen.”

"What are you talking about? I only went because you said to..." Lance's eyes opened fully and focused on the other paladin. "You said...it was a good plan. That was..." His brows furrowed. He had a bit of a headache just thinking about it.

“Aah. There was interference with our com system. It seems.” Keith’s tone edged on bitterness. “You heard me responding to Hunk. I didn’t know what Shiro asked you.” He sighed. “I listened to your system recording. I never would have approved of sending you out there alone.” 

Lance felt something heavy in the pit of his stomach, and he clenched his fists underneath the covers. "I promised...I would listen to you, and I had. I really had." He could feel his voice wavering a bit as tears started to form in his eyes. He knew what this meant. He was right about that bad feeling he had about the former black paladin. "Shiro...tried to kill me." There was anger, frustration, and sadness in his voice. "I saw the way he looked at me before we headed out. He....really tried to kill me. There was no interference, was there? He manipulated me and sent me out there to die." He regretted saying it as soon as the words left his lips. After all, Keith wasn't receptive the first time he spoke about Shiro in any way that wasn’t positive, so it wasn't like he'd suddenly change. 

Keith was silent for a long moment. His features became more severe, and a gold light flashed behind his burning eyes. There was something that went beyond anger, something that tapped into another part of his DNA. Round pupils narrowed into feline slits and through parted lips, Lance could see fangs over bite the older paladin's lower row of teeth. 

“I know.” A growl accented Keith’s normally soft voice. 

Even though he believed what he said, Lance had mostly been saying it out of spite, but Keith's reaffirmation of his thought only made him feel worse. He had been dismissed before, but now his fears were proven, and what? What was going to happen now? Was anything going to happen? He searched Keith's face for any sign of reassurance that maybe it would be okay, but instead he only saw anger. "Why? What did I do?" He knew he sounded lost and helpless, but that was how he felt.

“That isn’t Shiro.” Keith whispered. “I should have said something sooner. I don’t know what he is. I don’t what they did to him, but our Shiro would never do what he did to you. I don’t know if he’s aware that he even did it.” He laid his head back against the wall behind Lance’s bed. The ache of the mental toil from the last few days obvious in the strain on those otherwise handsome features.

“They took him away and stripped him down until there’s nothing left. Then used him to get in here. To do the same thing to us. To you. To take you away.” Sad eyes focused down on the former blue paladin, their human shape returning. 

Lance noticed Keith didn't actually answer his question, and it only made him regret talking about it more. He didn't ask about Shiro. He didn't care about how Shiro felt right now. He cared that Shiro tried to kill him, but apparently Keith didn't have the same concern. Lance sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. There was no use talking to Keith about any of this, was there? If Keith ever had to choose between Shiro and Lance, Lance knew he would lose, and he cared about Keith too much to make him feel like he needed to choose, He had to swallow those feelings down and do his best to keep his promise to support Keith, even though right now he was the one who needed to be supported. 

He looked up at Keith before he slowly scooted to the side and held open the covers for him. "Come in here..." He had so many questions about what happened while he was asleep, but that sad look just told him now wasn't the time to ask any of them. Now was the time to comfort and support Keith. 

“Lance, I--" Keith’s protest was aborted the moment he looked at Lance’s face. “Alright.” He crawled into the covers, sinking into Lance’s heat and scent the moment he pressed the length of his body against his. 

Lance pulled the covers back over both of them, and he carefully wrapped his arms around Keith, pressing his face into his hair. "We can talk about it later. For now, just stay here." He murmured, closing his eyes. "I'm sorry I scared you."

“I wasn’t sca-“ Keith about shot up but stopped himself, his expression softening significantly before he laid himself back down, his nose nuzzling into his chest. “I should have trusted you more.” 

"You said you were scared. Don't take it back. It makes me feel important when you say stuff like that." Lance shook his head. "I'm not upset with you, and you shouldn't have trusted me more. I would have died if Red hadn't gotten me out of here. None of that was me." He sighed and nuzzled his hair.

“She’s protective of her pilots.” Keith curled in a little tighter, as if he were trying to make himself smaller against the other paladin. “Still.” He turned his head up to him. “I’m all right if you’re mad at me. I can handle that. But this? You’re being too nice.” 

"Did you do something wrong that would make me mad at you?" Lance shook his head a little. Even if he was upset, he couldn't actually be mad at Keith. "I'm being selfish. I want you to comfort and console me because I was angry and jealous the last time we talked, and then I got really hurt, so my ego is pretty beat up."

“Well, no. Maybe? Wait, jealous?” Keith leaned up, his eyes innocent and wide. “Why?”

"Even though Shiro isn't Shiro, you have a deeper, more complicated relationship with him than I like." Lance pouted. "And when you got angry with me, it was because of him, so of course I would be jealous."

“Our relationship isn’t that complicated. Shiro is everything to me.” Keith sighed, laying down against Lance again, closing his eyes as he listened to the steady strong beat of his heart. “Is what I thought, before Voltron. Before Allura, Coran, Pidge, Hunk,” there was a pause, as Keith pushed his hands into the front of Lance’s shirt, then curled his arms inside it as if he couldn’t get close enough. “You.” 

"I really do think you want to kill me." Lance sighed. "Don't open with the line that's going to make me jealous and then pause before you make it better!" He shook his head slightly and kept his arms around him, letting Keith sink into him as much as he needed. Those bare hands on his skin felt so good after everything he had been through. "I really hope you rank me a little higher than them...."

“Well you’re certainly higher than the mice.” Keith gave Lance a cat like grin. “Chuchule is evil.” There was glimmer of amusement in the Voltron leader’s eyes before he nuzzled his lips against Lance’s neck, his fingers gently moving and messaging up from Lance’s hips and around his back. 

“I don’t feel the same about them, the way I do about you.” A blush crept around Keith’s face, highlighting the faintest of freckles, gifted him by the desert sun, and all the way to his ears where even his hair couldn’t hide it. 

“That sounded less corny in my head.” Keith whined, muffled by Lance’s shirt.

"I'm okay with corny." Lance groaned the words due to Keith's little massage and the movement of his lips on his neck. "I like corny." He kissed the top of Keith's head and closed his eyes. "I needed to hear that."

Keith’s strong fingers continued to press into Lance’s muscles. Easing the tension that was often wrought in injured tissue after a stay in the cryo-chamber. Though he blushed slightly when he came to tiny area of raised flesh. Four distinctive scratch marks stretched from Lance’s spine and over the shoulder blades to either side of his back. Ignoring the fact that they should have been cured while the paladin was in stasis, Keith bowed his head a little shamefully. “Sorry about that too…”

"For what?" Lance murmured. The attention to his back was both lulling him to sleep and arousing him a little. His eyes half closed and he looked at Keith.

“I, umm, scratched you. The other day.” 

"And why are you sorry?" Lance smiled a little and lifted a hand to play with some of the hair at the back of Keith's neck. "Do you want me to be sorry for making you sore? It didn't feel bad then. I honestly didn't know you scratched me, and it certainly doesn't feel bad now."

He didn’t try to stop the shivers that rattled his breath. “No. Don’t be sorry about that.” Keith whispered. “It hurt at first, but it felt amazing. I barely felt anything by the end of the day.”

"Then why do you think I want you to feel sorry about some scratches you gave me while you were feeling amazing?" Lance grinned a bit and continued to play with Keith's hair. "So how long was I actually out? Did everyone see me lose my cool or just you?"

“About two quintant. Give or take.” Keith’s eyes closed against the ministrations. “You drooled on Hunk. Coughed up blood on Pidge’s shirt. Woke up once and prattled some nonsense to Allura, but all in all I think you kept your cool. If you had any to begin with.” 

"I had tons of cool, what are you talking about?" Lance's voice took on a slight whine. "I did that to them, how embarrassing..." He closed his eyes and groaned a bit. "Two quintant huh? I guess that's not too bad. Could be worse. Though I need a shower then, don't I?"

“It should have been longer. Allura directed the sleep pod to expend most of its energy on your more vital injuries. Which would explain why the scratches are still there.” Keith started to sit up, pouting begrudgingly. “Probably would help if you got cleaned up.”

Lance looked at him, reaching up to touch his lower lip. "Why are you pouting? You can come with me. I promise to behave." He smiled a little and slowly sat up once Keith was up, wincing a little at the soreness and stiffness in his back. "Did anyone else see the scratches, or just you?"

Keith gave the taller boy an incredulous shake of his head. “I don’t think you have a choice.” Keith got up and offered his arm to Lance, pulling him up and letting him use his own weight as a balance. 

“I don’t know. If anyone saw them. If they did, they didn’t say anything. I think they were more focused on the rib bone that punctured your lung.”

"I don't have a choice? I could misbehave. I just won't." Lance draped an arm around Keith's shoulder once he was up. "And well, that's good. That thing really hurt. A lot. And it could have been worse. When I'm clean, if you'll let me, I want to go down and thank Red hm?" 

Keith steadied Lance with a small wince. “Yeah. Get used to walking first, then we'll talk about visiting hours.”

"I'll be fine." Lance shook his head and looked at him before he glanced at him. "Are you going to come in with me?"

“And if I can't promise to behave?” Keith gave Lance a flirty wink. 

"I won't complain." Lance chuckled a little, slowly pulling his arm from around Keith's shoulder when they got to the bathroom so he could try to pull his shirt off, each movement slow, as though he was testing his own limits. 

“Here, let me.” Keith got up on his tip toes and helped Lance remove his shirt, and without thinking he took the waist of his pants and pulled lightly before he blinked and looked up at Lance. “Umm… “

Lance smiled a little and rested his hands over Keith's. "I do have to undress if I'm going to shower. I can do this if you're too nervous." His smile shifted into a grin. "Unless you want to help me with these."

Lance wasn't going to make any of this easy for Keith, and he was sure some sadistic part of the darker skinned man enjoyed this. With a flush Keith turned his head. “Whatever you want.”

"All right all right. Don't worry about it." Lance gently removed Keith's hands since the other paladin seemed so embarrassed, and he carefully removed his own pants and underwear, stepping carefully from around him to turn on the shower. "You still haven't said if you were going to wash up with me or not." He looked over his shoulder at the other paladin. 

Dark eyes closed and the line of Keith's jaw tightened as if he were steeling himself. “I'll shower with you.” The shorter man undressed without ceremony. This was just like any locker room in any other circumstance. He didn't have to be nervous. “To keep you from falling.”

"All right. Thank you." Lance smiled and turned on the water, stepping in and turning to look at him. "Do you mind If the water's a little hot?"

“I prefer cooler showers.” The comment was stated as fact, but there was still a pout in his voice. Was Keith sulking? It certainly seemed like it with his slightly protruding lower lip. “But a hot shower might be better for your muscles to relax.” 

Lance's brows furrowed. Did he upset Keith? Guilt washed over him and he slowly nodded his head before bowing it and turning away from him, his shoulders slumping as he just stood under the steady stream of water. 

“Lean down.” Keith reached up to get the back of Lance’s hair, his hand gently and carefully moving through the short locks. “I don't want to get it in your eyes, since your taller than me.” 

Lance leaned down, and he closed his eyes, resting his hands on the wall of the shower to keep his balance. "Sorry."

“Don't be sorry, idiot.” Keith's voice was warm as he messaged the soap in his hair to a rich lather. “Get better.” He removed the head of the shower. “Close your eyes.” The command was little more than a warning before he started to spray his hair down, one hand pushing the suds out, the other held the nozzle steady.

When he finished, he kissed the bone at the top of his spine. “Done.”

Lance kept his eyes shut even after Keith was done helping him with his hair. "Thank you." He murmured, his head still bowed, fingers curling a bit against the wall of the shower. He knew Keith wouldn't have helped him if he didn't want to, but he couldn't help feeling a little like a burden at the moment. It was a weird feeling, and he didn't like it, even if he did like Keith pampering him a bit.

“Hmm? You'll pay me back. I'm sure.” Keith reached for the body wash against the wall and smirked. “Cucumber melon?” He started to wash over Lance’s narrow back, careful of the marks he’d left. At least Lance’s dark skin hid them better than his own would have. 

“Unexpected. But I like it. Don't expect me to put on that mud... mask thing though.”

"I hope you don't ever get hurt enough that you'd need this kind of payback..." Lance shook his head and straightened up a bit to look over his shoulder at him. "All of this war business is no excuse not to take care of your skin." He arched a brow. "You don't know what you're missing out on."

“Thanks, but I think I'm okay.” Keith said, shaking his head. “I have a sponge, good enough for me.”

"You should let me show you. You'll thank me." 

“Are you being serious right now? I'm not exactly the… salt or sugar or…” Keith pulled a jar down from the edge of the shower, squinting at the small print. “Hibiscus type of guy.”

"You're also not a has to shave every morning because you'll grow a beard if you don't kind of guy." Lance quipped and took the jar from him before pointing to his own face and the decent amount of stubble he was sporting. "Look at this and it hasn't even been that long." 

“Yeah, I noticed. Though stubble isn't a bad look for you. I do prefer soft." Keith admittedly had a babyface. He never had any expectations of growing a full-length beard or anything more than a thin goatee. “Worst case, we can probably live off your beauty products for a few weeks if we can no longer stomach food goo.” Keith moved his hand to touch Lance’s cheek. “If you let it go, you might give Coran some competition. But please don’t.”

Lance pouted and looked at him. "My moisturizer is not food. It keeps my face from being rough...You like how my skin feels, don't you? Do you want me to stop?"

Something about how Lance phrased the statement made a blush rise quick and hot on Keith's cheeks. He looked up at him through wet bangs before shyly lowering them again. Defeated.

Lance gently lifted his chin and looked down at him. "Keith, if you're too cute, I'm going to have a hard time behaving..." He leaned down as if he were about to kiss him, stopping just before his lips. "But I don't think us doing that in the shower right now is a good idea." He whispered. "When I'm better, though..."

“I'm not cute.” Keith replied, his eyes on those lips. “You shouldn't strain yourself.”

"You are cute, and I won't." Lance smiled and kissed him, smirking and then rubbing his stubble against Keith's cheek before he shook his head. "Let me return the favor and help you, at least?"

The kiss was light, chaste, but it still left Keith’s lips tingling and his brain numb. “Mmm whatever you want.”

Lance nodded a little and ruffled his hair slightly before getting the shampoo. "Close your eyes hm?" He gently started to lather up Keith's hair, massaging his scalp a bit, but he blinked slightly at the way the suds were changing color. "Keith...? Do you dye your hair?"

Keith’s eyes started to drift shut. Having someone else wash your hair felt, amazing. He started to lean into Lance’s hands, turning his head this way or that way to get the full feel of his touch. He almost didn’t hear the paladin’s question. Almost. His eyes widened and he turned from Lance, looking down at the watery gray trails the shampoo left on his body. All he could do was look up at Lance, white cheeks a little paler and now running with rivers of black.

"Ah, don't open your eyes! What if you get soap in them!" Lance urged, trying to wash up as much of the shampoo as possible without coming close to his eyes. "I mean if you do, I don't blame you. If I knew, I would have grabbed a different shampoo. Sorry."

Unsure eyes watched the other man. Did nothing ever surprise Lance? This guy who practically had an aneurism when he found out Pidge was a girl? He never said word when Keith’s Galran heritage was exposed, and he barely spoke two sentences when Keith returned with Shiro. Keith wasn’t sure if anything ever got to the other paladin but right now, his dismissal was bewildering. “It doesn’t bother you?”

"It bothers me that you opened your eyes while I'm trying to wash your hair." Lance finished washing the remains of the shampoo, and then he tilted Keith's head up to gently wash any dye lines off his face. "It doesn't bother me though. I mean dyeing hair is kind of normal isn't it? And given your blood, I guess I'm just not surprised by it. Should I be?"

One of his cheeks squished up as Lance tried to clean Keith’s face. He stared was stare dumbly up at taller man. “Does anything shock you?” He whispered. Keith was aware that they knew his heritage, but this kind of lack luster revelation was a bit too much. 

"Pidge being a girl shocked me." Lance gently washed the rest of the dye off his neck and chest. "But your blood doesn't change who you are, does it? The Keith I first met is the same Keith here, hm?" He smiled a little. "Besides, it's kind of hot..."

“You hated me at the Garrison.” Keith arched a brow and was about to cross his arms over his chest when Lance uttered that final thought. “Hot? Me dying my hair is hot?” One thick lightening lock of gray hair fell into Keith's eye.

"I didn't really know you, did I? But your blood doesn't make you a different person just because our relationship changed." Lance shook his head and gently pushed that strand of hair out of Keith's face. "You being part Galra is kind of hot." 

“I'm going to regret this, but how? What part of any of this is attractive to you? Or is this your alien fetish?” Keith grinned, trying to laugh off his anxiety even as Lance brushed away the literal root of his problem. 

"Well..." Lance gently slid a finger down along Keith's jawline. "You're sexy. You move much more fluidly than you should be able to." That finger slid down his neck. "And even though you're made of sharp lines and angles, you're still pretty nice to hold." He leaned in and kisses his forehead.

“Ning…” The moan came before Keith had a chance to stop it, his head tilting to the side. “Lance,” the name came out almost pained from the young paladin’s lips. “We… we should get out before--“

Lance looked at Keith and arched a brow. Was he really getting that turned on from this? "Keith...Don't let anyone else touch you like this...You'd be helpless if it happened." He shook his head and stepped back a little. "Why don't you get out first so you can cool down?"

“Something wrong?” Dark eyes focused up from the vale of damp white hair. Had he done something weird? Keith wouldn't be shocked. When it came to close meaningful interactions with, well anyone, Keith was an amateur who knew very little about social cues. He did, however, surprisingly listen to Lance's request and stepped out of the shower. His dark eyes, pale body, and light hair looking more like a creature from a fairy tale than any Galran half breed.

"Nothing's wrong. I promised I would behave. If I keep making you moan, I won't be able to behave." Lance shook his head as he waited a moment before he got out of the shower as well, grabbing a towel and handing one to Keith. "Here..."

Keith wrapped the towel around himself before taking another to dry his hair. “Do you think, I should color over it again? If it's too much for everyone…” 

"I think that's up to you." Lance gently helped him dry his hair. "Do you feel comfortable letting everyone see it? If not, we can go dye it now."

“You shouldn’t be pampering me like this.” Keith turned in Lance’s arms, then started pushing the taller man out of the bath room, being careful not to make him trip or stumble as he helped him dry off along the way. “I’m supposed to be the one taking care of you, since it’s my fault you were hurt any way.”

"I can't help it." Lance moved as he directed and pouted a bit. "I like doing things for you. You can't blame me. And it's not your fault. How could you think it’s your fault when you didn't do anything wrong?"

“I didn’t do anything right, either.” Keith looked around Lance’s room before finding his robe against the wall. “Here.” He handed it to him while getting his own clothing out of a small duffle kept in the corner of the room. Blindly he pulled on a pair of red boxers and one of his ample black t-shirts. Though against the drying white tuffs of his hair it only made the platinum tresses all the more brilliant.

“What was in that shampoo?” Keith’s pulled his bangs in the center of his face, his eyes crossing.

Lance pulled the robe on and watched him. "It's just really cleansing. I don't know. I'm sorry it washed it out. I didn't know." He remained standing where he was, but he bent down to pick up the discarded towels Keith left on his search for clothing.

“I’ll worry about it tomorrow. Hey! Don’t do that.” Keith took the towels from Lance, holding them against his chest. “You’re sore, right? You shouldn’t be moving like that.” 

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Lance looked at him. "Just sit here?"

“For now, would it be so bad?” Keith turned his eyes to Lance from where he stood by the laundry, his words cautionary. 

“Though,” Keith sighed. “I suppose that wouldn’t work either.” He walked over to Lance, his fingers reaching out to touch the back of the red paladin’s hand. “I should take you to Red. If you feel up to it. Like you asked.” 

Lance turned his hand and took Keith's, holding it and shaking his head. "Maybe tomorrow would be better..." He managed a little smile. "I can feel the soreness coming back now that the hot water isn't hitting my back."

Keith looked at their hands then up at Lance’s face. “Is it bad? Should you lay down?”

"It's not horrible, but maybe some rest would be better..." Lance kept holding his hand. "You're staying, right?"

“Of course. I said I would.” Keith smiled. “Not that you were conscious.”

"Oh? What else did you say to me when I was asleep?" Lance started moving towards the bed, gently pulling him along.

Keith’s eyes shifted suspiciously to the floor. “That's about it.”

"Really? You didn't say anything else? You didn't yell at me for being an idiot or anything?" Lance got onto the bed and looked at him. "Or did you say such cute things that you're too embarrassed to tell me?"

Those cheeks burned a few shades darker. “I sat in complete silence, debating on kicking you off the bed to get more leg room!” Keith huffed even as he climbed into the bed next to Lance, his arms wrapping securely around his waist, his face nestled into his chest.

"You're not a very good liar, you know." Lance settled back and wrapped an arm around Keith, shifting the other so he could run his fingers through his hair. 

“I don't say cute things.” The voice sounded more pouty than usual due to the muffling of Lance’s robe.

"You absolutely say cute things. Saying you'd stay with me is cute. Trying to lie because you're embarrassed to tell me all the cute things you said when I was unconscious is cute." Lance chuckled a little and gently stroked his hair. "You're cute."

“I'll kick you out of bed.” Keith growled. “You're only still here because you're warm.”

"This is my bed." Lance pouted. "Don’t be mean to me when I'm recovering."

“And I haven't left it in over a day. So you owe me leg room.” Keith made no effort to move, despite his threats.

"There's plenty of leg room with the way you're lying on me." Lance twisted his fingers gently into Keith's hair. "But you were in bed with me hm?" He stopped pouting to smirk. "That's cute."

“You're so annoying!” Keith herumfed and pulled the blanket around his head, careful not to disturb the hands stroking through his hair, obviously.

Lance blinked, then laughed a bit. "I'm annoying? You're the one who likes me. What does that make you?"

“Masochistic.” Even as Keith said the word, he relaxed into Lance, his arms to either side of him, fingers gently moving around his hips.

"I see." Lance pouted. "Are you going to keep hiding under the blankets?"

“Miss my face already?” Keith shifted and settled in a little better against him, then moved his head enough to get the blanket to slip off his head. Sleep ready eyes finding Lance’s as a few snow colored bangs slid over them.

"That and it was pretty uncomfortable having you hold the blanket all tucked in like that." Lance smiled and pushed that hair from his forehead. "Thank you." 

“Oh? Are you comfortable now?” Concern furrowed Keith's bow. Should be move? Should he get up? Was he crowding Lance?

"I am now that I can see you." Lance gently touched his forehead. "I was being cheeky. I just didn't like you hiding from me."

“Oh.” At Lance’s touch the skin smoothed out. “I'll stay right here.”

Lance smiled, and he moved his arms so he could hold Keith a little better before his eyes closed.


	3. Fortification

Keith tried to make himself look smaller. A possible accomplishment when leaning up against a metal paw the size of a one-story house. He wished to avoid drawing anyone’s attention, and so far, so good. He pillowed his head against the side of the Black Lion’s claw, watching the hanger’s only other occupant.

He smiled as Lance approached Red. His apprehension was kind of cute. The way he played with his fingers, paced, practiced what he was going to say in his head, while going through the motions with his arms. Keith didn’t have the heart to tell him he looked like a mad man, so instead he pulled the sleeves of Lance’s jacket tighter around himself. His hands disappearing inside them. Lance insisted he pull the hood up to hide his hair. Keith knew it wasn’t out of any shame or discomfort from the other paladin. The command came from a sense of possession. Lance had discovered one of Keith’s secrets and for now that secret belonged to him. Somewhere in Lance’s mind, he’d claimed this version of Keith for himself. Keith gave him that. Though, overall, he decided it was okay to be seen like this. However, he spent most of his life hiding his oddities away, breaking a few hard-earned habits didn’t come easy.

Keith also lacked the mental fortitude to handle questions, stares, or Hunk’s well-meaning childlike but oddly racist comments. Or Allura’s expression of dismay. The princess meant every word she said in the hanger before the final fight. Keith didn’t doubt her sincerity for a second. But the kind of hate she’d expressed was not the kind that simply vanished. He’d been down that road already, so he didn’t want to do it again. He looked human, spoke human, acted human so everyone treated him the same. If he started touting white hair and fangs, things would change. He knew the nature of people well enough, and in his experience cruelty is a universal concept. 

Lance, however, would always be the exception to the rule. Lance’s initial dislike of Keith was for pure reasons, even if they were misguided. Competition. Rivalry. Keith could understand that. No, he could respect it. Petty differences meant nothing to Lance. He never batted an eye at any of Keith’s physical quirks. To Lance Keith was Keith. He was part Galra before he met him, so why would anything change? Though, the more he thought about it, it did change. If anything, Lance seemed more turned on by the reveal. Keith’s cheeks flushed and he pulled on the strings the hood to curtain his face. “Idiot.”

Lance stood stiffly in front of the red lion, trying to keep good posture even with the still lingering soreness in his back. His jaw was set, his eyes wide as they stared up. He did glance over in Keith's direction once or twice, but then he blushed faintly at the thought of Keith actually being here to hear all this. Plus, seeing Keith cuddled up in Lance's jacket was both adorable and incredibly arousing, and that only made Lance more embarrassed. But he coughed, cleared his throat, and looked back at Red again.

He opened his mouth to start to speak, but just a squeak came out. He closed it again and mentally chided himself for being so stupidly nervous. This was even more embarrassing now. It wouldn't be nearly as embarrassing if he was alone, but he wasn't alone, and now he was actually worried Keith would make fun of him for all this. Especially for that squeak.

But he needed to do this. For himself. For Red. For Keith. So he straightened up a bit more, a serious look crossing his face. "So...Red. Um..." He cleared his throat. "I don't know If this means anything, but thank you. Thank you for not letting me die out there when you totally could have. Thank you for bringing me back." 

He wasn't expecting a response, but there was a roar, and he totally jumped and yelled out in surprised, but that at least broke the tension and he laughed a little. 

Keith puffed a laugh and shook his head. “Red likes you. She didn’t really tease me too much, but it looks like she’s going to have fun with you.” Keith stepped forward smiling up at sleekest of the lions. “She’ll take good care of you too.” In reverence, his hand came up to rest on the curve of her claw. “I promise that much.”

Lance laughed nervously, one hand resting on the back of his own head. "I...think I already know that since I'm alive and not dead." He smiled faintly, but then looked at Keith. "Don't tease me about this okay?"

The older paladin gazed at Lance, weighing his options, grinning. “Tease you about what? Having a talk with Red is a good way to bond. She's always listening, even if you can't hear her anymore.” A wince waxed then waned over Keith’s face. 

Lance reached out and took one of Keith's hands. "Hey..." He smiled a little. "I'll take good care of her for you, okay?"

“Why do I get the feeling it wasn't the first time you promised something like that today?” 

"Are there any other hers I have to take care of for you?" Lance arched a brow. "Is there something you're hiding from me, Keith?" He kept holding his hand though. 

“Nope, it's pretty obvious you’re an idiot. No reason to hide that.” Keith moved his body into Lance’s, his lips kissing over his knuckles as the hood fell to one side.

"Hey now. I didn't even do anything stupid to deserve that!" Lance pouted and looked down at him, lifting his other hand to gently touch a strand of that white hair. "Do you want me to help you dye this? Or do you want to leave it as it is?"

“Do you hate it?”

"I don't hate it. I think you look even sexier. And if you want to keep it, you can just wear my jacket and hood all the time..." Lance leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. "That's also very sexy. But if you're worried about the others, I will help you."

“It sounds like a lot of effort to go through. I just--" Keith trailed off, hearing something whir in the distance, possibly the elevator. “We should go, before someone comes down here. Are you done?” 

"Yeah, I've finished." Lance smiled and readjusted the hood for him. "Let’s go back to your room." He kept holding his hand as he gently started to pull him. "Do you have anything planned for the day?"

“No. Everyone is doing a damn good job of avoiding us.” Keith followed behind the young man. “I can't blame them. I think I made things a bit too obvious.” He mentally winced. His behavior the other day left little to question. No one said a disparaging word but Keith could hear Hunk’s tirade of insensitive questioning as if the big man said it out loud.

‘Gay and Galra? Is that like a thing? I mean there's obviously females. We've fought them, but those weren't full Galra. So, do Galra have typical females? Or do they like mate with everything? But at the same time want to destroy the universe? Sounds complex.’ Keith groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“Yeah, no. Nothing planned.”

"Do you really think Pidge and Hunk would avoid us because you made it obvious you were upset I almost died? Or did you say something happened between us?" Lance shook his head and squeezed his hand a little as he walked with him. "I bet they're just giving us some space, one, for me to heal, and two, because you rarely seem so upset and they want to give you time. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but whatever. You have me."

“True.” Keith gave Lance a small affirmative kiss to his shoulder.

Companionable silence filled space between them on the walk back to Keith’s dorm. But as soon as the door slid shut, Keith leaned his head into the middle of Lance’s back. “Do I really have you?”

Lance blinked and stood there not sure why Keith had waited until they were back in the room to ask that, then he smiled a little. "You do."

For a long second Keith held onto him. He let the sense of Lance swell with in him. The rise of his shoulder with each breath, his strong steady heartbeat, and his shifting of his body from the right or the left as he tried to stand still. Keith had never wanted to get close to anyone before. Until now, he never understood what people meant when they talked about wanting a connection with another human, empty poetry and trash by love sick dead writers, as far he was concerned. 

Keith shifted, pressing his cheek in more he wrapped his arms around Lance. He squeezed. The force of the embrace little harder than necessary to be comfortable. When he was satisfied, he allowed his arms to slip away from Lance’s long narrow waist, his hand trailing along the edge of his jeans. Keith's calloused fingers were lingering and possessive as he strolled around him, breaking contact altogether to go to the mirror. 

Pure white hair fell over his face when he pulled the hood down. Winter drifts covering one eye. Individual strands caught in the dim light and shimmered like crystalline fibers. Keith sighed at the alien staring back at him, who appeared as unimpressed as he did. The Galran half-breed tilted his head to one side gauging him, and bared his teeth. Sharp canines stood out amongst the more human teeth. They were obvious now. Keith wondered how he never noticed them before.

Lance watched Keith after he walked away from him and went towards that mirror. He heard the sigh and he smiled a little. There was no way Keith was totally fine right now, and while Lance's injuries were physical, he knew Keith was struggling with more than that. He walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around him, resting his cheek against that snow-white hair. He nuzzled a little and smiled at the reflection. "See? You look good."

“I’ve never seen it like this. I’ve always colored it. Shiro helped.” Keith leaned into Lance, grateful for his support but careful to not press all his weight against him. “You have to say that. Or Red will kick you out of the cockpit.” Keith joked casually. 

"Oh so you're going to tattle on me to Red if I don't praise you enough?" Lance nuzzled his hair. "I say it because I mean it. You look really good." He ignored that little bit about Shiro helping him. He didn't like the idea of Shiro seeing his hair in its natural state. Maybe he was possessive and jealous, but Keith was here with him. He didn't want to hear about anyone else.

“I look like a lab rat.” Keith crunched up his nose, and found Lance in the mirror. “How are you feeling? How’s your chest?”

"You look sexy." Lance nuzzled. "I feel better. Resting helped, but..." He pressed against his back. "I also feel warm."

“Warm?” Keith’s brows drew together in concern, but he felt what Lance meant pressing against his back. “Oh.” He watched the other man’s reflection bury his face into is hair. The contrast of his brown skin and his platinum tresses allured him to a faint blush. The pinking flesh started to form over Keith’s cheeks, stretch across the bridge of his nose, and once again brought up those faint freckles. 

“If you’re still in pain maybe a cold shower?”

"Pain...?" Lance's brows furrowed and he watched Keith's reflection. "Why...Oh. You don't want to." He managed a little smile and stepped back. "Okay. I'll go do that then." He slowly let him go and stepped away from him. 

“You’re not stiff?” Keith kept his eyes on the dark-skinned boy in the mirror, not bothering to fix how Lance’s jacket slipped off one shoulder.

"Of course I am. Isn't that why you told me to take a cold shower?"

Keith’s head tilted to one side, confusion narrowing his eyes and he moved his lips several times to talk, but nothing was coming out. Silence swelled for an uncomfortable minute. 

“Well, yes." Keith spoke up with a clearing of his throat. "Warm showers can increase blood flow and cause the swelling to be worse. Cold can do the opposite, numb it so it doesn’t feel as much.”

Lance stared at him flatly. Again with the complete innocence. "You have no idea do you?" He shook his head. "You have no clue that you basically just told me to back off and deal with my horniness myself. It's fine if you don't want to do it, but I'd rather you say you don't want to do it instead of you telling me I should take a cold shower." He sighed and turned to walk towards the bathroom. 

“I did?” Keith turned and blinked at Lance’s back, his eyes lowering a little and there was a small fidget as he played with the zipper of the coat. “I asked if you were in pain because of how we got last time.” He slid his fingers up the silver teeth in the coat, the movement anxious as he tried to explain himself. Lance had to know he was trying, right? 

“It wasn’t that I didn’t want to.” Keith uttered, embarrassed and feeling pretty lame. So, out of frustration he ruffled his hands through his own hair. “I mean, if we have sex like that again, and you’re still recovering. Wouldn’t that make it worse?” 

Lance sighed and turned to look at him. "But you asked me how I felt, and I said I felt better." He walked back up to Keith and cupped his cheeks in his hands. "Trust me enough to know what my body can and can't do, okay?" 

“Yesh.” Keith replied with smooshed cheeks and wide eyes.

"Good. Now do you want me to take a cold shower and leave you alone or not?" Lance kept smushing his cheeks a bit. 

“Dwn-“ Keith attempted to speak. “Dwnta weve.” He rolled his eyes, jerking his head from Lance, but catching his hand before the red paladin could take it back. 

“Don’t leave.” Keith repeated, his voice no longer hindered. He twisted the darker hand over in his own so it was palm up. “You don’t want to do that, so why would you.” Keith lifted Lance’s hand back up to his face. His eyes demanding the focus of his partner’s sea blue orbs as he licked a finger-tip. His tongue slipping between Lance’s long slender fingers and tasting him down to his palm where he placed a chaste kiss.

Lance didn't even bother trying to stop the groan that escaped his lips. "I can't tell if you're just too innocent or too sneaky." He murmured, shuddering a little after that kiss to his palm, the sensations from the licking still sending jolts of pleasure through his body. "But..." He pushed himself forward, trapping Keith between his body and the dresser, his free hand moving to rest against the smaller man's hip. "Should I show you what you do to me?"

The hard metal of the vanity pressed into the small of Keith’s back, his hands gripping the sides, and knocking a brush to the floor in the frenzy to stabilize himself. He expected a kiss and maybe a cocky grab of his jaw, but not to be pinned against the dresser. To say it startled Keith would overlook the thrill traveling through his body, the excited hitch of his breath, and the way his eyes darkened into brewing storm clouds. Keith liked the sensation and it showed without hesitation. 

The length of Keith’s body slid up against Lance’s. His hips lifting and grinding up in a natural but unfamiliar motion to the smaller paladin. “That was your plan from the start, wasn’t it?” His voice lowered with salacious honey dipped tones.

"For you to be extra sexy and turn me on like this? I hoped, but how could I plan that?" Lance murmured against his lips after he took them in another hot kiss, pressing himself even closer to the other paladin once Keith seemed open to it. He leaned in and kissed him once more before moving his lips to his jaw. "Do you want to see how much you affect me, Keith?"

Keith nipped at Lance, allowing his lips to escape and manipulate more of his skin. He submitted to their exploration, his breathing a building mix of pants and affirmative groans. 

“A-ah!” Keith’s body convulsed, his hands jerking against firm grip he already had on the dresser. Lance found a new sweet spot. One intimately connected to the growing heat between his legs. The soft vulnerable skin where his ear lobe came closest to his jaw became the willing victim of Lance’s wet tongue, hot breath, and murmuring lips.

“God, show me…”

"Gladly..." Lance whispered against that earlobe before he nipped gently, his tongue coming out to lick the flesh as though he needed to heal some unseen wound. "Turn around." He whispered again, barely pulling his body back, only enough to let Keith turn. "I want you to look in the mirror."

“The mirror?” Keith blinked, sobering a bit. “Why the mirror?” He still turned, despite his confusion, keeping his attention on Lance the all the while. “Something wrong with my face?” 

"No. Nothing wrong." Lance lifted his hand and gently turned Keith's head. "Watch." He pressed up against his back and rested his hands on his hips. "I want you to see what you to do me." He grinned a little before he leaned in and licked the shell of Keith's ear, his eyes also focusing on the reflection, watching Keith's face.

“Aha!” Keith watched his own brows furrow up, and shame crept to his cheeks. He turned his head away. 

“Lance I.. it’s too much… I..” Keith glanced up at the brown skinned man in the mirror and his words froze. The way Lance looked at him sent a tremble down his spine. A dark predatory glimmer shone in his cerulean eyes. He wore an expression of desire, lust, all things carnal and possessive. It pulled at something feral inside Keith, but he also sensed something nameless and beyond any scope that he experienced in anyone else. In Lance’s burning sea colored eyes lived a sense of safety, loyalty, adoration, protection, and a thousand more gentle promises. 

“Lance.” The paladin squirmed as he sighed out his name his hips pressing back while Keith’s eyes dared to find his own. Unlike his discovery with Lance, he didn’t see anything profound or deep staring at him. He saw basic instincts flushed to surface. His dark eyes and pale hair still soft and fresh from his morning shower, glittered like so many precious metals. His roused, petal pink lips stood out as they parted to catch his breath, as his tongue licked between small fangs. Is this all that Lance saw? 

"See?" Lance whispered as he nuzzled his ear, his eyes darkening with each slight shift Keith made back against him. "You're the most attractive person I've ever met." He lifted one hand from Keith's hips, wrapping his arm a bit around him, his hand resting on his stomach and under his shirt, slowly pushing it up with his wrist hand slid up toward his chest. Each subtle shiver Keith gave only drove him on, and he bent his head to kiss his neck, groaning a bit into the warm flesh there. "I can't help wanting you."

“I don’t get it, but as long as it makes you mine, I don’t care.” Keith whimpered feeling Lance’s cool fingers against his fevered flesh. “Nng!” His head tilted to the side, his arching back pressing him harder against Lance’s hips, the sudden move rattling the contents on the dresser.

For someone who didn't know what he was doing, Keith sure knew how to drive Lance crazy. "I am yours for as long as you'll have me." Lance spoke the words against Keith's neck, his hand slowly dragging back down over his stomach and to his pants, slipping underneath the waistband as he pressed himself forward against him. "And even if you don't want me anymore, I'll still be yours." 

“La—ance!” Keith bowed his head as he squeaked out the name. Lance’s fingers had pushed into his pants and sent a delicious chill through his body. The shock of the sensation created the most embarrassing sound Keith had ever made. It was enough for Keith to wish for a hole to crawl in and die. Seeing as that was not going to be a viable option, Keith went with plan number 2. 

To save himself any more humiliation, Keith bit down on the loose hooded collar of Lance’s jacket. His fangs digging into the sweatshirt-like material. He lifted his head and found Lance once more in the mirror, the cloth clenched between his teeth.

Something about the way Keith bit onto his jacket like that made Lance shiver and press closer to him. He slid his fingers further into his pants, groaning into the back of Keith's ear when his fingers found the heated flesh they were searching for. "Looks like you do understand what it feels like hm?" He slowly moved his fingers over him, grinning just slightly, watching Keith's reflection in the mirror. "So sexy."

Keith’s next muffled cry lurched himself forward. His arms flew out above him and clutched for the top of the mirror as Lance worked his lower body into a frenzy of hedonistic and desperate grinds and thrusts. He wanted to both press back against the man pleasuring him, while also thrusting into his tight grip. So he did what his body commanded, rocking between Lance’s hand and his hips. 

“Mmmph!” Keith clutched the mirror, banging it once against the wall. The muscles in his arms flexed under the strain, showing off perfectly formed biceps. 

Lance let go of Keith's hip to use his other hand to push those pants down, freeing his partner from his confining cloth as he started to slowly pump him. He watched the way the other paladin's face showed his pleasure, the way he bit his jacket and moaned into it. He groaned at the way Keith's body only urged him on, and he used his free hand to push his own pants down so he could feel his heat on Keith's bare skin. "That's it..." He whispered, moving his hand a little faster. "See how much you like it?"

“Mmn!” Keith reached the pinnacle of how far his virginal body could take him. His neck arched one last time, hips jerking as he came into the former blue paladin’s hand. He remained frozen, his body bowed in pleasure until the tremors left him to melt against the dresser top. His arms fell limp and made a pillow for his head to rest. The hood fell from his mouth in favor of breathing, his saliva having stained a patch a shade darker shade of gray. 

Keith wasn’t sure why he looked up then. He didn’t know what kind of perverted fascination compelled him to want to see himself, but he did. What he saw looking back at him struck him as more alien than the white hair figure from before. Glazed eyes met his. Flushed cheeks spread over glistening cream-colored skin. Hair was mussed and sticking to his skin. He didn’t know the lewd figure in the mirror, but in these situations, how could someone know who’d they become until they were in one? 

Keith didn’t hate what he saw. The person in the mirror was for Lance. Voltron, Shiro, and the Galra were all someone else’s problem. Right now, he was Lance’s partner. His lover. A person who wanted to be held as badly as he wanted to hold someone else. The connection the two paladins had was the most normal and natural thing either one of them would experience for a long time.

A movement caught his eye and drew Keith’s focus away his face to see slender bare hips still grinding back in erotic circles against something hard and hot. Keith smiled wickedly. 

“Lance,” Came a whimper, dripping with need. “Please.” 

Lance almost lost it against Keith right then and there. The other paladin was practically oozing lust, and even though he knew he made Keith that way, that slight beg caught him by surprise. His breath hitched as he pulled his hand back and looked down at the evidence of Keith's pleasure, smirking a bit as he brought that hand back behind Keith and smeared it on his skin. "Please what?" He managed, his own breath hitching as his hips started to move, and he rubbed himself against him. "Do you want me to have you like the other night?" He leaned in and nuzzled some of that snowy hair, his eyes half closing. "Or do you want me to just stay like this?"

“Have me?” Keith whispered, a golden glint flashed in his indigo eyes, and he leaned up. He had no problems forcing himself to stand. He molded his back against the hard chest of his partner leaving no space between them as he lifted his hand to the back of Lance’s head, forcing the taller man’s head over his shoulder. Keith turned his head with the lightest of touches to his jaw. “But I’m already yours.” 

A nail dragged just under Lance’s chin, as Keith’s eyes danced between his then down to those thin pink lips. “And you’re mine.” Keith leaned up so the tip of his tongue could trace over Lance’s protruding bottom lip. “So, take what you want. I’ll get back what’s owed…eventually.” The smug promise in those words matched the mischief in his smirk.

"If I owe you anything after this, then I haven't made you feel good enough..." Lance leaned as far in as their bodies would let him, trying to press his lips to Keith's. "And if I haven't made you feel good enough, how am I supposed to stop?" He grinned just a slight little grin. If Keith could be mischievous, so could he. "But you feel it don't you?" He rubbed himself against the other paladin's backside again. "So you can't say it's not good, unless you want to hurt my feelings." He slid his hand back around Keith to touch him once more, this time sliding one finger along his length. "But you don't want to hurt my feelings, do you? You want me to feel good things, just like you want to feel more good things."

The smaller body of white haired paladin arched into Lance. His soft groan echoing as he took the other’s lips, his own open and defenseless to exploration. Keith’s fingers tightened and gripped at the back of his head, keeping Lance’s mouth against him until he pulled away to breath. “Nn.” He twitched at the sensation of a water-cooled finger sliding down the most heated part of him. 

“You owe me the chance to make you feel what you do to me.” Keith tried to keep the ploy going, the sultry little demon, but as Lance grew bolder Keith’s body became more sensitive to his touch and the more whimpers and mewls escaped him, destroying the pretense.

"That sounds way better and much less ego-damaging than me just owing you." Lance murmured and let his finger slide over him once more before he pulled his hand back. "But for now, let me help you feel things hm?" He kissed him again.

“Mmm.” Keith murmured softly. He would have liked to know how it could have been ego-damaging. Keith liked what Lance did to him. While the strain on his body was heavier than the one on Lance’s, he didn’t think anything of his ego because it felt good. Keith enjoyed being treated the way Lance treated him. He felt cherished, pampered, adored, and actually pretty damn sexy (damned if he’d admit that one out loud). Keith had been given very little opportunity to feel any of those things in his life. If Lance wanted to be the one to show all of it to him, Keith wasn’t going to deny him, but he certainly wouldn’t mind turning the tables either. “Aha!”

His eyes wandered over to the mirror, looking over the forms of twisted wanton flesh. Brown crossed over ivory as Lance’s arms kept Keith standing, holding his shirt up to expose his chest. Keith’s pale wrist and exploring fingers pushed through burnt honey tresses as their mouths met again and again. Hungrier each time to clashed. Their soft pink tongues were visible periodically in the reflection as they churned and fought for dominance until one or the other gave in allowing the winner a full taste of their victory. Keith’s body shuddered as his eyes drifted closed.

"Shirts..." Lance groaned and tried to tug on the borrowed jacket Keith was wearing, using his clean hand of course, since it would be no good to get a mess all over it if it was trying to prevent that in the first place. He shifted a little and slowed the movement of his hips. He needed to get the lube from the other night too, but the last thing he wanted to do was pull away from Keith. At least if the smaller paladin was distracted by removing the rest of his clothing, it wouldn't be as bad, right? 

Keith reluctantly let go, dragging his fingers down Lance’s neck and collarbone before he stepped back enough to pull his own shirt over his head along with the borrowed jacket. He might have to look into keeping the hoodie for himself. Lance didn’t seem to mind him in it.

Lance used that moment to scoot to the nightstand and grab the bottle he used the other night. He came back just as Keith was tossing his shirt and Lance's jacket aside. "Mmm." He kissed one of Keith's now bare shoulders, nuzzling the pale skin with his lips a little. Part of him wanted to leave his mark, make it clear that there was something more between the two of them. But he also knew that there was a fine line, and he wasn't sure if Keith was ready to cross it. "You look amazing." He murmured as his kisses trailed to his neck, his lips lingering over the flesh after each kiss.

Keith shivered, and found Lance’s eyes in the mirror. “Why am I the only one naked?”

"You'd have to take my shirt off, then." Lance grinned at him through the reflection, his eyes moving over that pale expanse of skin he just tasted. "One of my hands is a little too messy for that."

“Didn’t think that through, hm?” Keith smiled, kissing him once again before he smirked and lowered himself down to his knees. Maybe he could drive Lance a little crazy. 

Keith started to pull up on Lance’s shirt, revealing a flat stomach with still forming muscles. “Mmm.” His hands dragged up Lance’s body as he leaned in, his tongue then his lips tracing over the hard lines of his stomach, and nipping the skin were it got softer.

"I wasn't planning on taking my shirt off..." Lance groaned at Keith's movements and his hips shifted a little. "Nnn. Keith..." His clean hand came down to his hair, and he ran his fingers through those platinum strands. "You're teasing me now, aren't you?" Keith really had no idea just what he did to him, did he?

Keith’s lips nuzzled right by Lance’s navel. They were soft and warm, different from the slightly chapped and inexperienced ones from the other night. The shorter man leaned in, slipping his hands around Lance’s back, rubbing the muscles gently as he looked up at him. “Why is it teasing? Do I suck at it?” He asked between hot little tastes of Lance’s flesh.

"No. Not at all." Lance moaned. "It's because you're good at it...I'm going to make a mess of you if you keep doing it." His fingers continued to thread through his hair. He was so close. A few more teases from Keith's tongue and Lance would be done for.

“Is that bad? Isn’t that what you want to do?” Keith shrugged his shoulders. He got to his feet again, but he kissed and licked his way from Lance’s stomach to his neck, dragging his shirt with him, and pulling it off to let it drop to the floor.

"Yes, but..." Lance leaned in and kissed him once his shirt was off, and he pressed him back against the dresser. He would show him just how good those kisses were, and just how they affected him. "We were doing something else first, weren't we?" He gave him another kiss before he turned Keith around and pressed against his back again. "And we should finish what we started, shouldn't we?" 

“Dedicated, aren’t you?” Keith teased, and nuzzled Lance’s cheek as he took one of the taller boy’s arms and wrapped it around his waist, holding his hand sprayed out against his own stomach. He tilted his head up to kiss him, his fingers twining into Lance’s. The adjustment was intimate despite what they were already doing. For Keith it felt natural to hold his hand like that, so that was exactly what Keith did.

"You can say that." Lance whispered against Keith's lips, suddenly feeling a lot warmer even from such a simple, but incredibly intimate action on Keith's part. Lance was always a bit of a romantic, but he never really thought Keith would be the same. Maybe he wasn't. Maybe he had no idea just what those sorts of actions did, but for Lance, they just turned him on more. "But it's also...I really want to be with you right now. I want to feel you, and I know I have the ability to do that this way. I don't know how much I could do if we were any other way." He kissed him once more. "I need you, Keith..." 

Keith squeezed the hand he held and smiled. He moved his fingers up to dance over the fine and still boyish edge of Lance’s jaw. His eyes flittered up to his, holding them and refusing to let them go with nothing more than his silent command. Keith couldn’t speak the words yet, he’d never learned the real value of them beyond anything more than a platitude. But in those eyes, those dark, color shifting, too large eyes, something warm came to light. Something beyond a simple fondness. Something Keith was terrified to say and would have tried to hide or deny, but those eyes betrayed him, the most vulnerable part of himself. They took it out of the darkness and brought it into the blinding, unyielding radiance of Lance’s, acceptance and the boy knew Keith loved him. 

Something about the way Keith was looking at Lance, even through the reflection, made Lance's heart swell, and a warmth spread through his entire body. There was emotion there Keith had never shared with anyone else, and Lance was going to own it and cherish it and make sure it was worth the other man's time and energy. He also wanted to be sure that look remained his. No one else was allowed to see this. "Keith..." He pressed himself against him and moved his head to kiss those fingers that touched his jaw. 

“Nnm…” Keith groaned, and nodded his head to give him permission to do anything he wanted. “Lance, His hips lifted for him. “Do it.”

Lance groaned and rubbed a little against him before he pulled his hand back from Keith's so he could coat his fingers with that lotion. "If it's too much, tell me." He murmured against his jaw as he carefully began to use his fingers to prepare him for what was next. He knew it would feel different, since they were at a different angle, but he didn't know if Keith would like it, or if it would hurt more, so he wanted to be extra careful.

Keith bowed his head and concentrated on controlling his body as Lance moved his fingers. Unlike before Keith had an idea about what was going to happen. He was a fast learner and he relaxed his muscles, his body slacking against Lance, allowing the other man to hold him up as he prepped him. 

“I’m not going to break you know.” Keith whispered, turning his head into his neck, standing up just enough so he could lick and trail kisses over his throat.

"I might." Lance moaned as he finished and pulled his hand back. "If you're too sexy, I might not be able to handle it." His eyes started to close at the attention Keith was giving his neck. "Though I don't think you'd mind." He rested a hand on Keith's hip and rubbed against him, nuzzling his hair when he was able to, groaning a bit as he carefully guided himself into him, that hand moving to Keith's other hip once he was settled, gripping a bit even as his hips began to move.

“What’s that su- AH! Nng.” Keith’s whole body trembled as Lance eased in. While standing like this, gravity worked in Lance’s favor and pushed Keith down, getting the other man deeper inside of him. “Ah!” Keith’s breath caught. It was too much! He tried to get words out, but just as he started to talk, Lance began to push. The silver haired paladin gripped Lance’s wrist as they held him steady, his breathing halting with air only being pressed out with every thrust.

"Breathe." Lance managed between his own puffs of breath. "And...lean on the dresser if you need to." He moaned into the back of the other paladin's ear, his eyes watching Keith's face, the way his lips quivered, and moved for each little sound he made as Lance thrust his hips. Those subtle changes in his expression only made Lance want to push into him even more.

“W-wait. Wait. I’ll move, I need a just a second.” Keith panted, suddenly understanding something pivotal about sex. A level of experience was needed for certain things. Standing while having sex was one of them. He wasn’t hurt. Lance had taken care of that part. The intensity of it was too much. Keith had felt the overwhelming sensation of it manifest in pear shaped tears at the edge of his eyes. 

"Am I hurting you?" Lance nuzzled his hair as if he could comfort Keith more this way. He saw those tears start to form, and so he slowed his hips. "Should I stop?"

“I’m okay.” Keith shook his head, carefully not to hit Lance. “it doesn’t hurt. It’s just, it’s a lot.” Keith’s ethereal coloring made his blush stand out all the more. He took a moment to breathe. Then leaned forward on the dresser, his arms bracing himself as he shifted his hips to be more angled with his shoulders. Bowing his head and moved himself on Lance, testing the position. “Go..good. It’s good. Keep moving.”

"Sorry." Lance wasn't totally sure why he was apologizing, unless Keith was hiding it from him and it really did hurt or was uncomfortable, but he started to move his hips a little more when the smaller paladin balanced himself on the dresser, his eyes half closing once again. "Nnn." His fingers dug into Keith's hips, but he tried not to grip so hard he would hurt him, especially since there were still faint bruises there from the first time.

“Aaah.” Keith moaned. “Better.” It took a few more thrusts and he found his own body responding back and moving with Lance. He delved back as Lance moved forward. Each connection sending sparks jumping up his spine and through his fingers and toes. It left his nerve buzzing and the energy gathered together in his stomach into a well of delirious pleasure that was building with every thrust, every echo of Lance’s grunts, and every sound of their bodies made coming together. “Eeeng… Lance..” 

"Keith...I..." Lance moaned and did his best to keep himself in control. He leaned down a bit over Keith's back, kissing the back of his neck and moaning into the heated skin with each push forward his hips made. He wanted to touch as much of Keith with as much of his body as possible. He wanted to share everything with him. 

Keith’s breath caught at the kisses to neck, and he lifted himself on his arms enough to see straight into the reflection. Lust filled and glazed blue-violet eyes stared back at him, white hair now gray once caught up in sweat around his forehead, jaw, and neck. His skin flushed with rushing blood giving even the palest part of his flesh a rosy hue. Behind him Lance worked him over, the sweat of his body dripping into the small of Keith’s back and released an intoxicating pheromone into the confined room. 

“Aha ah!” Keith reached back to grab one of Lance’s hands, and gripped it tight. He brought it around holding it against his chest again. His fingers like iron as he held him there.

If Lance was the kind of person to swear, he would be letting out a string of expletives at Keith's actions. Not because it was bad, but feeling his hand being moved from one of Keith's hips to his chest, feeling Keith's grip, almost made it feel too good. The action might have been so simple, but the meaning wasn't lost on Lance, even as he groaned and pressed his face into that storm cloud of hair in front of him. He breathed in Keith's scent, moaning as if that alone could make him pleasure drunk. "I'm..."

“Do.. AH!” Keith convulsed, his eyes wide as his hips jerked and ecstasy rattled every part of him, leaving him blind to everything but white-hot light. He heard himself crying out, hearing Lance’s name tumble out of his lips with every orgasmic thrust his hips made as he emptied himself. He squeezed Lance’s hand a little harder as during the terrifying tick of time when all the world was deaf and blind to him.

His senses returned in a wave of sound and color and he found himself slacked against the dresser, eyes open but not seeing, his shaking hand still hugging Lance’s as if it were the only thing keeping him grounded.

With a loud moan of Keith's name, Lance tumbled over that edge as though he were perfectly in tune with him. His heartbeat matched the one that he could feel beneath his hand as his hips bucked through the last moments of his climax. When it was done, he slid out of the former red paladin, but he remained with his chest against his back, his face once again burying itself into Keith's hair. His fingers twitched in Keith's grip, trying to let him know that he felt it; he was there with him. 

“Nm.” Keith whimpered, taking the last of his energy he turned himself around to curl into Lance and gave the Paladin the hint that standing wasn’t going to work for him.

"Let's go to the bed." Lance wasn't stupid. He knew it was too much for both of them to remain here for much longer, so he carefully helped Keith to the bed, arms around him as he lowered him into the mattress and sank down with him.

“How are you feeling?” Keith reached up and pushed some hair to the side of Lance’s face, the motion was languid and trivial considering the short length of his bangs, but Keith wanted to touch him like that. Keith wanted to be the kind of guy who would swipe hair out of his partner’s face. Keith wanted to be able to be gentle with someone. “Your chest okay? You were breathing pretty heavy.” 

"So were you." Lance's chest wasn't heaving as much as it had been when he first settled onto the bed, and Keith's gentle touches to his forehead helped calm him a bit, but he smiled and reached up to hold that hand, bringing it down to his lips and gently kissing his fingertips. "I'm feeling pretty happy and pretty spent. How about you?"

Keith smiled as he watched him, a genuine smile. “Same here. It felt even better than before. You really know a lot about this stuff.”

"You think so?" Lance smiled and kissed those fingertips again. "I really don't. I just read a lot." He grinned. "You're the only one I've done anything with."

“You told me that before.” Keith’s eyebrows quirked up. “What were you reading? I didn’t see a single book in your room.” 

Lance's cheeks flared a deep pink and he brought Keith's hand down to rest over his own chest, shaking his head. "Don't worry about it."

“O-okay.” Keith’s voice sounded suspicious, but he let it go, distracted by the beat of Lance’s heart against his hand and he smiled as he intertwined their fingers again. He cocked his head to the side as though contemplating the action. 

Lance smiled up at him, his eyes starting to close. "I could use some sleep, though. Do you want to nap with me?"

“Way ahead of you.” Keith kissed Lance’s chest once before he closed his eyes. 

"Mmm. If you say so." Lance kept Keith's hand over his chest even as he nuzzled his hair and let himself drift. 

\-----

“I’m going to go first.” Keith leaned over Lance’s sleeping form. He pressed his smile against his temple, the soft white hair falling forward to brush against his lover’s cheek. It had been a couple days and the former paladin of fire was feeling cooped up. He needed to stretch out his muscles, and a round or two on the training deck sounded perfect. Though it meant leaving Lance and his naked bronze body behind snuggled in Keith's bed. Something about that sounded a little unfair. 

Lance's eyes slowly opened at the slight pressure on his temple and the gentle feather touch to his cheek. "No..." He murmured and reached his arms up to pull Keith down to him before he could pull away. "Not yet." His voice was soft, and he pouted a bit, that haze of sleep not completely gone yet. "Just a few more minutes..."

“Lance…” Keith said his name like a gentle laugh. “I have to train.” He kissed his chest, his shoulder, and moved his head to nuzzle his hand. “And you’re making leaving hard.” Keith had never felt so compelled by another person. If Lance begged him enough, he had no doubt he’d cave. He wanted to be with him. Not just physically, but to see him, hear him, and roll his eyes at his lame jokes. Every time their eyes met, it felt like a thousand messages passed between them. Sometimes they were obvious. Other times they were subtle. Lance had also started a habit of dragging his finger along the back of Keith’s neck when he walked by. When he leaned over Keith to see what he was reading, he’d rub or discreetly play with the hairs at the back of his neck. Keith, for his part, failed at not letting on he was putty in the boy’s hands. 

"You can still train." Lance murmured and touched Keith's lips when he nuzzled his hand. "Just leave in a few minutes." There was a full pout on his lips now as he looked up at the older man. He hadn't told Keith yet, but he had horrible nightmares every night since he woke up from his injuries. Keith's presence was the only thing that calmed him whenever he woke up in a cold sweat in the midst of one of those horrendous dreams, even if he somehow managed to wake without waking the smaller paladin. But because of those nightmares, he was hesitant to let him go this morning. "Just until I fully wake up?" 

“Alright.” How could Keith say no to any of that? “I’ll stay. Or…” He grinned wickedly and moved his lips to Lance’s palm then down to the base of his wrist.

"Nnn..." Lance shuddered a little at the kiss to his wrist, and he smiled a little. "If you tease me before you leave, I will have a problem."

“How is that any different from any other day?” Keith purred, nuzzling his cheek now with his nose. 

"Normally you don't try to turn me on before you leave me." Lance hugged him a bit and nuzzled before he let go of him so he could sit up. 

Keith gave him a few quick kisses, and then another. “Well this is the first time I’ve tried to leave you, and you don’t make it easy. Though maybe you should go hang out with Pidge and Hunk. They miss you.” He sighed and straightened his back, his hand slipping along Lance’s cheek and lingering until Keith forced himself to step away from the bed.

“I’ll be on the training deck. I’ll join you on the bridge. I was thinking we could do a patrol together. If you’re up for it. There’s a water world near here.” As he spoke Keith rubbed the back of his neck, cheeks pinking. “I thought, maybe we could check it out. Or something.” He coughed into his hand. “If you wanted to.”

Keith promised himself that he would dye his hair back to black soon. Despite Lance’s affection for it. Black hair was easier to hide behind. 

"Ooooh like a date?" Lance grinned as he climbed out of bed and stretched a bit. "I would really like that. Just don't overdo it in training and get hurt hm?" He reached out and touched Keith's platinum hair, pushing some of it out of his face before he stepped past him to head to the bathroom. "I'll be out on the bridge shortly to see Pidge and Hunk like you suggest, don't train too long."

“Just a warm up.”

\-----

The training robot fell into a heap on the floor. Keith smirked to himself. He’d learned to get a sense of satisfaction out of the sound of metal falling with a clang of destruction. 

“You’ve gotten pretty good.” Keith froze at the voice. “What level was that now? Seven? Eight?”

“Shiro.” The younger man turned, his voice distorted by helmet’s intercom. Shiro stood outside the training ring dressed how he’d last seen him: like the Black Paladin of Voltron. Keith always thought Shiro had what comic book heroes were designed after. He had the physique, charisma, and the mindset. Next to him, Keith was a scrawny kid. When people saw Shiro they knew exactly who he was. He looked like a paladin. Acted like a paladin. After a battle, he knew what to say, he could look humble and still wave and kiss babies at a victory parade. Keith would rather come home and sleep, or curl up with Lance. He left the baby kissing and the credit to everyone else. Whatever the Black Lion saw in him, Keith had no idea. 

“I haven’t seen much of you lately, and I heard some commotion down here and figured I would take a shot at catching you.”

“Ah. I’ve been—"

“With Lance. I know.” 

Keith swallowed, forcing a lump down his throat and past the squeezing vice his shoulders became. 

“How is he?” Shiro stepped into the circle, the glare of the lights on his helmet hiding his face.

“Better. He was tossed around the cockpit. Not sure how, he doesn’t remember much.” Keith watched as Shiro moved around the floor.

“It’s good he’s got someone taking care of him. You’ve always been good at that.” Shiro’s head tilted up to one of the lights. “You sat at my side too, when I came back. Coran told me you kept searching for me.”

“What else could I do?” 

“Move on. Like everyone else.” Keith tried to find it, but the words were spoken with no bitterness.

“You know I can’t do that.”

“I know.” 

They stood in a long silent moment before the black paladin turned his head to the younger man. “Spar with me? I want to test my strength.”

“Shiro, I—” Keith started, hugging his elbow to himself before he sighed. “Alright.”

\-----

Lance stood just outside the door to the bridge. He wasn't sure how easy it was going to be to pretend everything was okay. The others had given him space since the "accident," and he assumed they thought it was better to let Keith handle everything since Keith was the leader. Or, what was more likely, Pidge figured it out and told Hunk to give the two of them some space because they needed it. He took several deep breaths before he walked through the doors and into the room.

"Hey..." He rubbed the back of his head and stood just inside the door, shifting his weight from one foot to another. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous. It was Pidge and Hunk. They'd be totally fine with everything, right?

"Lance!" Hunk smiled at him from his position by one of the monitors. "Glad to see you buddy!" He laughed a bit, clearly pleased with the situation before he looked back at whatever he was watching. 

Pidge turned and smiled at Lance, stepping to the side as if inviting him to stand next to her, so he took slow steps until he stopped at her side. "Sorry I've been out so long." He practically mumbled out the apology.

"You don't have to apologize for needing some time, Lance." Pidge smiled a little and fixed her glasses. "Besides, it seems like Keith needed some time, too. He was a mess you know." 

"Eh? When?" Lance looked at her and blinked. Keith? A mess? Did he miss that?

"Well before you got hurt, when you got hurt, when you were in the cryo-chamber." Pidge smiled a little and looked at the screen in front of them. "I'm pretty sure he was about five ticks away from hitting Shiro when you were out there."

"There's no way he would hit Shiro..." 

"I think he was close." She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Do you want to see?"

"Eh?"

There were several beeps and boops as Pidge's fingers swiftly moved over the panels. Lance never understood how she could pick up on everything so quickly. "Do you want to see Keith lose his cool?" Her glasses seemed to take on an almost mischievous tint, since she didn't wait for Lance's answer to show him the video from that day.

He watched the screen, one of his fists clenching at his side as he was reminded just how bad it actually was. Shiro definitely did that to him on purpose. He wanted him to go out there and not return, and if it wasn't for Red's quick maneuvering, Lance wouldn't have escaped that explosion. But that wasn't even the worst of it. Keith wanted Shiro to call him back, and Shiro refused. He knowingly put Lance in danger, but then spun it around on Keith to make him feel bad? His other fist clenched and he glanced over at Pidge, not even remotely surprised that she was watching him and not the monitor.

"Keep watching." She shook her head at him.

Lance looked back at the screen and frowned. He wasn't sure he wanted to watch more. But Pidge was going to stare him down if he didn't. So he watched, flinching when that explosion came. He didn't know what he thought would have happened, but the look that crossed Keith's face was too much for him. That mixture of heartbreak and rage made Lance want to run down to the training room and scoop him up into his arms and never let him go again.

All because of Shiro.

"Hey guys! Look at this!" Hunk interrupted any other thought that was about to pop into his head. "Keith and Shiro are sparring!"

"What!?" With speed he didn't even know he had, Lance moved to Hunk's side, almost pushing him out of the way to see the monitor. Sure enough, Keith and Shiro were moving together, almost like some sort of intricate dance. Lance hated it. He hated that Shiro was there with Keith. He hated that they flowed so well together.

"Wait, is Keith's hair WHITE?" Hunk pushed Lance a little to get a better view of the monitor. 

Lance frowned more. He hated that now Shiro saw Keith with his natural hair. 

"Look at them go!" Hunk was definitely too excited, but that excitement seemed to fade almost as quickly as it came on. "Wait, isn't that getting a bit too intense? Are they really just sparring?"

Lance frowned. Hunk was right. This wasn't just a lighthearted sparring match. Lance had barely caught the moment Shiro sent Keith’s helmet flying, but he did see the younger man’s retaliation. He forced his sword into the ground, used the momentum and swung around it, kicking Shiro with both legs in the chest. It sent the former paladin back several paces and then several more when he slid across the floor.

Keith turned his head to where his helmet still rocked on the floor. The picture becoming tense as Shiro just stared at the white-haired paladin. The three watching from the monitor could see Shiro’s lips move, and Keith’s head snapped back to Shiro. His sword raised. 

Shiro copied Keith’s motion, his Galra arm glowing brightly. The two circled each other, and Shiro came in hot. He sliced down toward Keith and as the boy dodged the arm Shiro anticipated his move and reached out with his other hand to grip Keith around the neck. Instead Keith caught the arm and using Shiro’s speed against him, he tossed the larger man over his shoulder and into the ground.

Keith jumped back, not losing a step and vaulting himself to the edge of the training circle, looking like the definition of unfazed grace. He lifted the sword again, and prepared for the next attack.

“Keith’s not … he’s not even fighting.” Hunk sat up a little straighter. “He’s just defending. Shiro's going all out.”

Lance clenched his fists again. "Shiro's really serious, isn't he? This can't be good."

\-----

Keith recovered from a parry and slid low to the ground, turning his body as if the terrain were ice, and back-flipping back onto his feet. 

“You have gotten better.” Shiro praised the youth. 

Keith watched Shiro, his eyes sharp. “I’ve just learned how to use everything you taught me.”

“I’m sure you’ve learned a few things you didn’t get from me.” Keith didn’t miss the barb in the words. “You don’t think I see it? How you look at me? You keep me at an arm’s length. You’re guarded. Ever since you brought me home, and you’ve been flat out avoiding me since the comet.”

“I believe you made a bad call, and Lance--"

“Do you honestly think I would purposely try to hurt him?” Shiro shook his head, his arms splayed out to either side, but his motion slowed. “You do. You think I purposely wanted to hurt him.” The pain in his voice was palpable. 

“I don’t know what I think.”

“Keith.” Shiro stepped forward. “Why would I want to hurt him? Lance is one of us.”

“You tell me Shiro! You know that was a bad call. Why would you send him out there?!” Keith gripped the hilt of his bayard. 

“I told you why.”

“No! You tried to convince me why!”

“You of all people. You know me.” Keith winced when Shiro echoed his words from the day they discovered part of his past. 

“I knew you.” Keith whispered. “They’ve done something to you. You’re not yourself.”

“Then who am I supposed to be!” Shiro charged at Keith with a speed the younger paladin had never seen in him before. Keith dove to the left and into Shiro’s armored knee. The blow forced him down, peeling himself off the still bent knee and he folded to the floor, gasping to get back the wind that was knocked out of him.

“Shiro--" He choked, his arm over his stomach.

“Was it Lance? Did he convince you of this?” Shiro walked over to him, his fingers gently smoothing those white locks, frowning when he pulled his hand back to see blood on his palm. 

“I protected you.” Shiro continued, his voice deepened by pain. “No matter what happened, we always had each other’s back.” He gripped Keith’s hair and slammed his head against the ground. The smaller paladin did little more than groan, as he took that small opening and twisted his body around to tumble out of the way. His head screamed, but at least he was on his feet. Shiro, on the other hand, hadn’t moved.

“Shiro, we can still help you.”

“You always had weird taste in men, but I supported you.” The older paladin’s voice sounded so distant. “That day you told me, you reminded of a lost kitten. And you know, it might have been ego, but I had figured that it was me.” Shiro shrugged as if the situations where helpless. 

“You always followed me around. Yipping at my heels. It was actually pretty cute. You were a good kid, and I never wanted to hurt you. Hell, I spent a few nights wondering how I would turn you down if it ever came to that.” Poison dripped from the words. A tendril of arsenic wrapping is way around Keith’s body and clutching his chest. One good squeeze and it could all be over. 

“Don’t do this.” Keith pleaded. “Not with his voice, or his smile.”

Shiro came at Keith again. He’s glowing arm raised up the chop down toward the Red armored paladin. Keith danced to the side and dropped his body down slipping between Shiro’s legs, but a violent jerk pulled him back just as Shiro flipped in the air, tugging Keith along with it and pressing him down hard against the ground, holding him there by his sternum. 

Keith’s limbs went limp, the struggle leaving the boy as he found Shiro’s eyes. They looked so pained. So terrified. Sweat dripped down his brow as black eyes met Keith’s deep blue. “I never would have guessed that you’d move your affection on to Lance. Were you so desperate for someone to care about you with me gone? Was he just the first person who opened his arms? Hell Keith, if you needed sex that badly, I’m sure--"

“Stop it!” Keith snarled and tossed his hips up, and throwing Shiro off balance until Keith swiped his legs out, tripping the former paladin, and getting himself back on his feet. “Don’t talk like that! Don’t like...like--"

“Like what, Keith!? Like a person?” Shiro shook his head as he stood up. “That was always your problem. All it takes is a kind word, and you’d fall all over yourself. So quick to idolize anyone because you were so damn lonely. But let me tell you this Keith. You were better off being the loner. This is how people are. I’ve never been any better than them. People talk this way. People swear. People fight. People die… Keith.” 

“You don’t think I know that! I lost everything! Everything until I met you!” Keith stood a little taller before his predecessor. “It was never like that for me, Shiro. I never, not you. Not in that way. You were my family.” His voice trembled. “I’d do anything I could for you. Because that’s what people do for the ones they care about.” Keith watched as Shiro’s arm blazed to life. 

“Then you know what you have to do.” 

Keith jerked at Shiro’s words, his eyes wide as he stared at him. “You can’t be serious.”

“Ready your weapon, Keith.”

“No. Shiro, whatever is going on. I can stop this!” Keith hand waved over the ship. “WE can stop this!” 

“Ready your weapon, Keith.” 

“Shiro…” Keith whispered softly, his blood dripping down, distorting his vision. 

“You can’t save me and protect them.”

“I can try.”

“Keith, you were always the selfish one.” Shiro hissed softly.

“I know.” Keith looked up as Shiro started to dash toward him. He tossed his bayard aside, his eyes lowering down as he turned his hands toward Shiro, defenseless. 

The black armored paladin was on him in seconds. Keith watched a smile curl his lips. It was warm and out of place; it was eerie. 

A shot flew past Keith’s shoulder, the sound of it so close it made the boy jump in shock. His cheek stung and he felt a thin cut open, then wetness drip down. Keith’s blinked, hoping it could clear blood from his eye. Everything was happening in slow motion for the paladin from that point on, as he watched Shiro fall into him, knocking the new black paladin to the floor, the bigger body over his lap like dead weight.

“S-shiro?” Keith shifted his trapped legs. “S-shiro?” He turned head slowly to the man behind him, gun held level and eyes focused and cold.

“Lance…”


	4. Parapet

Lance stood there, gun drawn, his eyes focusing on Keith, but unable to get the image of Shiro charging at him out of his head. It wasn't until Keith said his name that he snapped out of it, that image being replaced with the one of Shiro on the ground. Under normal circumstances, he might be upset or shaken at what he did. But under normal circumstances, Shiro wouldn't try to kill Lance or violently attack Keith. No, that wasn't just a violent attack. Keith threw his weapon aside and would have let Shiro kill him if Lance hadn't gotten there in time. There was a knot in the pit of his stomach that only seemed to grow at the thought of Keith letting Shiro potentially kill him. 

But he forced it down as he lowered the gun and walked to them, carefully pulling Shiro's body off of Keith's lap. He crouched in front of Keith and wiped the blood off his face with his sleeve. "Hey. How hurt are you?" He sighed, glancing over his shoulder just as Pidge and Hunk made it to the room. 

"Before you freak out that I killed him, I didn't. I just stunned him." Lance looked back at Keith and gently touched the cut on his cheek. "He'll be fine when he wakes up." He glanced over at the others again. "We should just...make sure he sleeps a while until things settle hm?" 

Hunk opened his mouth to say something, but Pidge elbowed him swiftly in the gut. "We'll put him in a cryo-chamber for now." She shook her head a little and nudged Hunk again to help her get Shiro out of there. "Keith, you should rest."

"I'll take care of him. Thank you." Lance once again turned back to Keith and checked the wound on his head. "Let's get you cleaned up okay?" 

Keith leaned his body weight into Lance, forcing him to hold the smaller paladin. His eyes flickered about the room trying to absorb what had happened but unable to make the connection. Hunk had Shiro under instructions to bring him to the cryo-chamber and place him into a sleep-pod to heal. Not that he needed it, but he’d unable to hurt himself or anyone else. Keith’s shoulders slumped with a breath, relaxing more into Lance, his head resting against his chest. He didn’t care what the others saw or what they thought. He wanted to be here. Lance’s hands comforted him as they moved over his back in unconscious motions. He silently begged to be allowed to hide there, and he stiffed at Allura’s touch to his shoulder. He turned his head further into Lance, sighing once, but then he met Allura’s alien eyes. He always liked her eyes. They were beautiful, and changed colors like opals. He calmed considerably when he stared into them as she knelt beside the two of them. She stroked his injured cheek, the gesture small yet reassuring.

“Coran filled me in. I still can’t believe it. That he would go so far.”

“It’s not him.” Keith insisted. “He’s being manipulated. Shiro knows it, but he can’t do anything about it.” 

“How long have you known?” 

Keith clammed up, turning his head more into Lance. His guilt furrowing his forehead.

“You knew. This whole time.” The princess accused, her voice gentle like a disapproving parent. “We will talk after you rest. Lance,” Allura fixed her eyes up at the brown-haired man, concern creasing her lips. “I’ll leave him to you.”

Lance exchanged a look with Allura. He wanted her to know he understood how she felt about Keith knowing and hiding it, but he also wanted her to figure out that his accident in the comet wasn't an accident either. If she could make those conclusions and speak with the others about it without Lance and Keith there, it would be better. He wrapped his arms a little tighter around Keith and nodded a little. "Thank you." He murmured as he gently helped Keith to his feet. "It might be a while, so if there's anything you want to talk about, you and I can speak first, okay?" He managed a smile, one that wasn't quite as pained as he felt it was. But once that was said and done, he turned his full attention back to Keith. "Can you walk at all, or would you like me to carry you?"

Keith nodded his head and started to stand up, his arm around Lance’s shoulder. The cuts and bruises on his body would heal. Keith sustained no injuries in places that would impede movement. However, his limbs moved with forced effort and weighed as though they were concocted out of iron.

“I can walk. You won’t have to carry me.” Keith’s voice was so soft every warm body stopped moving to make sure they heard. He looked up at Lance, his eyes dull and haunted by wounds going far deeper than what Shiro had carved.

"I am going to worry about you whether you want me to or not." Lance sighed and kept one arm around his waist, supporting him as his free hand came up and gently touched the hand that draped over his shoulder. "Come on." He moved slowly, completely at Keith's pace, and if the other paladin wanted to stop and be carried, he would do that for him.

They stopped at the lockers, allowing Keith the time his stiff joints needed to pull his armor off. When he lifted the breast plate above his head, his shirt got pulled up with it, flashing a pane of ivory with purple black bruises standing out in stark ugly contrast. He closed the door and laid his head against it. His fingers gripping the lock. “If you have something you want to say, say it.” His eyes were closed, blood staining his hair a gory shade of pink. 

Lance shook his head and gently rested his hand against Keith’s back. “I have a lot of things I want to say, but none of it needs to be said now.” He sighed and rubbed his back a bit. “Right now we need to get you washed up and into bed.”

“I’m not that bad off. Head wounds always look worse than they are.” Keith leaned into Lance’s hand. 

“I know, but I would feel better if you would let me take care of you.” Lance rubbed his back a little before he moved to hug him from behind.

Keith blinked, his back stiffening up before he sunk his weight against the taller man while his head bowed forward, his brows furrowed and trembling. “All right.”

Lance nuzzled the back of Keith’s head, not bothered by the way the blood stained the smaller man’s hair. “Let’s go back to my room.” 

“Yeah, sure.” Keith moved anywhere Lance guided him. He didn’t look up until he was sitting on his bed. 

Lance stood in front of Keith and gently reached out to touch his hair. "Will you let me shower with you to help you wash this?" He looked down at the smaller paladin, trying to keep his voice as soft and calming as he could. "I don't really want to leave you alone right now."

“I’ve been alone before.” The words had an acidic bite to them. Keith didn’t mean for it but it came out nonetheless. 

Lance lifted Keith's chin and looked at him. "Keith." He frowned a little. "You're not alone now, and I won't let you leave me alone."

“Can we dye it back?” Keith lowered his eyes. “I don’t want to see it any more” He rested his cheek in Lance’s hand. If he looked at the mirror now, he’d only think of Shiro and those words he said.

Lance blinked, then nodded slowly. "If you'll let me wash the rest of the blood out first, I will help you dye it back." He gently stroked his cheek and sighed. Shiro really did a number on Keith, and Lance really wasn't sure he could bring him back from it.

Keith’s jaw clenched up. His head bowing deeper, pulling away from Lance’s hand, under the veil of white and pink hair those lips started to tremble and his shoulders shake. 

Lance winced when Keith pulled away from him. He knew he should be more understanding. He wanted to be more understanding. He was trying to be more understanding, but nothing was working. That knot in the pit of his stomach grew, and he clenched the fist that wasn't just touching Keith's face. He forced himself to calm down and he gently rested a hand on his head. "Keith...?"

Keith’s lips trembled, and his breath hitched. That touch to his head, that soft utterance of his name broke away the levy and his tears fell down his cheeks, large and hot, dripping down to Keith’s clenched fists. “Lance…” He tilted his head up to his partner.

Lance gently pulled Keith's head forward so his forehead was against Lance's stomach, and he calmly ran his fingers through his hair. "It's okay, Keith. You can cry all you need to." He looked up at the ceiling as if that would prevent his own tears from forming. 

Silent tears fell as hesitant arms lifted-up to wrap around Lance. They were strong arms, perfectly formed slender limbs which belied the power in them, and they trembled against the younger paladin. Ancient pain spilled forth from new wounds rolling thick and hot down pale cheeks and staining the front of Lance’s shirt. His fingers gripped the back, pulling and clutching desperately at the slender body of Keith’s only confidant left. 

Lance just let Keith cry against his stomach, stroking his hair and trying to comfort him as best he could. "I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

After a long while he pulled away from him, head still bowed and he sniffed once as if that motion alone would be able to regain any pride the boy had left. “Sorry…”

"For what, crying? Don't be sorry for that." Lance sighed.

“And everything else.”

"There are things you should and shouldn't be sorry for..." Lance crouched in front of him and touched his cheek. "But now is not the time for any of it okay?" He gently wiped away the last remnants of tears that still clung to Keith's skin. "We can talk later, when this isn't so fresh. For now, you should just try to figure your feelings out, okay?

“You’re the only thing that makes sense…” Keith captured Lance’s hand, and turned his head into it, nuzzling his palm. 

"Am I? Then let me help you." Lance watched him. 

“Anything.” Keith whispered softly. He didn’t care what it was at this point. All Keith wanted to have was somebody. A connection to something stable. Something simple. Something that cared for him unconditionally. Lance was that something, and he was warm. His hand was gentle, and his words so soft. “Just don’t leave.”

"I'm not going to leave." Lance leaned in and kissed Keith's forehead. "But you can't leave me either, okay? You're stuck with me."

“No one else would have me.” Keith’s eyes closed for that gentle kiss, the last of those tears squeezing through.

"I will have you." Lance murmured into his hair. "I don't want anyone else to have you. I want you to be all mine. Only for me." He pulled back a little to look at him. "If you'll have me."

“Lance,” Keith pulled away so he could see the other’s face. How could these two have ever been rivals. How could anything other than what Keith felt now, have ever existed between them. “You were the only one that ever did. How could I belong to anyone else, when it’s always been only you? I’ll take you however I can. Even if you go old or bored with me, I’ll still just be yours.”

"The only old I'm going to get is old with you." Lance shook his head a little and carefully helped Keith to his feet. "But for now, let's stay young and clean up a little, okay?"

Keith followed his lead, letting Lance pull the rest of his clothing off him, and set him in the bath with the care reserved for a child. His hands were too tender as they rinsed the blood from his hair. Keith winced only once when he moved into one of the bruises. He sighed, considering that Shiro was using his Galran arm, they should be thankful it was just that.

Lance was extra gentle as he washed the blood from Keith's hair. He crouched behind him outside of the bath, mostly so Keith couldn't see his expression darken when he saw those bruises. But he controlled himself, and he kept his mouth shut until the last of the blood was washed away. "Do you want to rest first or dye your hair first?" 

“Wait until the wound closes. It stings when it gets in there.” Keith answered softly, his eyes closed as he let Lance move him and wash him as he wanted. “I should rest.” There was a stretch of silence before an uncharacteristic small voice asked, “You’ll stay, won’t you?” Wet fingers reached out pinch the sleeve of Lance’s shirt.

"Of course." Lance was gentle as he finished washing the last of the blood. "We'll stay in here as long as you'd like, and the only time I'll leave is to get you food if you want to stay here still, okay?" He leaned down and gently kissed the top of his head. 

Keith visibly relaxed with Lance’s confirmation, his hand slipping from his sleeve and letting it lay across his stomach. He turned his head up, studying his face before he stretched forward and kissed him, fingers stroking his jaw as his lips lingered.

Lance would be lying if he said he wasn't startled by that kiss. While Keith seemed to need physical affection right now, he really didn't expect kissing or anything like that to be a part of it. But he kissed him back, his eyes half closing as he murmured a bit against Keith's lips.

“A thank you for not yelling at me, yet.” Keith grazed Lance’s cheek with his own. “I know you have a lot to be upset with me for.”

Lance sighed a little. "Right now you don't need to think about any of that, okay?" He shook his head and slowly stood. "Let's get you dried off so you can rest hm?"

Keith got up from the bath, wrapping a towel around himself he curled further into Lance when he could. “Do you think we should get away for a bit? I don’t like the idea of leaving the castle, but…”

"If you don't like the idea of leaving, then we should wait, hm?" Lance wrapped his arms around Keith and held him for a moment before he gently started helping him dry off. "When you like the idea a little more, we can go out for a bit." He managed a little smile as he got another towel to carefully pat Keith's hair dry.

Keith smiled at Lance’s assumption. The boy might not know it, but his tentative care of Keith was doing wonders for his spirit. “No, I mean, in case of an attack. I don’t want to be too far away.” 

"Oh, so you want to go out but not far?" Lance blinked, but he smiled a little at Keith's smile. "All right."

“Maybe tomorrow, not today.”

"That would be better." He wasn't going to lie and say he wasn't relieved by that, but Lance smiled again and got some clothes for Keith to sleep in. "These might be a little loose on you, but..." He handed over a shirt and a pair of shorts. 

Keith smiled. “Thanks.” Truth be told, he was kind of hoping for Lance’s jacket, but his clothes would work just as well. He dressed quickly, the shirt was too long, and a bit tight around his shoulders. Lance was certainly taller than him, but with wider shoulders, a more pronounced posterior, and a thicker waist due to muscle developement, Keith was stockier. Though not by much. Despite working out for a while and Lance only starting to take it seriously, the boy was catching up to him. Hell, he was already stronger than Keith. 

“You’re going to give me a run for my money.” It didn’t bother Keith as he finished dressing. His body was built for speed and stealth. Lance was built to be Lance.

Lance looked at the way his shirt fit a little too snugly on Keith's shoulders and he frowned a little. "Or maybe it's just too long. I have a bigger one. Are the shorts okay?" He glanced down at his waist and hips, but nodded when those seemed to be fine. He walked out of the bathroom and to his dresser again, pulling up a larger shirt and coming back with it. "Here. Try this."

That platinum head cocked to the side, but he put on the other shirt and he blushed. “Oh!” It fit better than the other and hung loose from the collar all the way down. “Better. Thanks.”

"Sorry. I like bigger shirts when I sleep." Lance took the other shirt from him and put it back, glancing over his shoulder at him. "Do you want me to get you anything?"

“No, you’ve been doing a lot already. Is there anything I can do for you?”

"I meant food or water or anything." Lance shook his head a little and turned to face him again. "The only thing you need to do for me right now is take it easy and work on being okay." He managed another little smile, but then he turned to his dresser and pulled his shirt off so he could change into something better for sleeping, too.

A warm hand moved slowly over Lance’s back, finding a scratch he placed last night. Lance had told him it was okay, but a wave of disgust washed through him, and he lowered his head. He was having a hard enough time figuring out who he was. The person Keith became at the height of pleasure, with no self-control, or the inability to not hurt people complicated things. He stepped into Lance, his forehead between his shoulder blades, and he watch his fingers move down each line as if he could erase them. 

“No matter what I do. I always hurt someone.”

Lance blinked when he felt Keith's hand against his bare back, so he didn't try to put his other shirt on. He clenched his fist a little around the fabric at the other paladin's words. Was he talking about Shiro? Was he talking about what had happened earlier, or the fight with Zarkon? Or what? "That's not true. You're too hard on yourself. People get hurt for a lot of reasons, but that doesn't mean you should take responsibility for everything."

“So are you saying I haven’t hurt you?”

"Why do you think you've hurt me? Have I done anything that makes you feel that way?"

“I can see it. Here.” Keith traced his finger once more. “And here.” He touched Lance’s cheek. “You’re not telling me, but I can see it.”

Lance turned around and took Keith's hands, bringing them both to his lips so he could kiss his fingers, watching his face as he did so. "Keith, you did not hurt me when you scratched my back. We were having sex, and we were both feeling good, right? If anyone got hurt then, it was you, not me." He kissed those fingers again. "And any other hurt I might feel is not something we should discuss now after what happened earlier, okay? I feel a lot of things because of you, and many of those things are positive, not negative, so please don't focus on what you think you did to me, okay?"

“You’d said that before. You say those things to me all the time, but after everything Shiro said,” Keith sighed. “I know that wasn’t him. The pain on his face as he said them was proof enough, but at the same time, it was his voice.” Keith closed his eyes tighter, hearing the cruel words again.

“It’s hard not to see a bit a truth in them.” Keith blinked, realizing what he was doing before he shook his head and stared up at Lance. His storm colored eyes meeting the calm sea of Lance’s. “I don’t deserve you. You know that?”

Lance frowned a bit, but he kept his hold on Keith's hands. "What did he say to you that made you stop believing me? And what can I say to make you believe me again?" He did his best to keep his face from showing just how angry those statements about Shiro made him. "Did he make you feel like you shouldn't be with me?"

Keith blinked up at Lance, a little dumbfounded. 

The lack of any sort of tangible reaction was a clear answer in itself. Lance shook his head and let go of Keith's hands, pulling his shirt on and moving to change his pants. "Nevermind..." Of course Keith wouldn't tell him anything.

“I’ve never seen you like this before.” Keith whispered. “You can get mad.”

"I'm not mad." Lance muttered as he changed his pants and tossed his dirty clothes aside.

“He…” Keith sighed and sat down on the bed. “He was the first and only person I told about being attracted to other men.” He folded his hands between his legs. “Not that there were a lot, I barely had much interest in anything. Just a few moments when you just kind of know. Ya know?” Keith rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. 

“Hell, I wasn’t even sure what any of it meant. Not really. But he did. He cleared it up for me. Explained it to me. Told me that it was fine, and that no one really cared about that stuff in this age. That’s the type of person Shiro was. The person out there on that training floor, was someone broken. I don’t care about what he said. Honestly. He could have been crueler if he needed to be. I just know that if Shiro knew what was said...” Keith sighed.

“Shiro and I were never like that.” Keith’s shoulders slumped. “Sure, I had a crush on him as a kid. But I was a kid. Like I knew any better? It isn’t like that now, and it was never really like that. Shiro is my family. I can’t feel that way. It’s weird.” 

Lance shook his head. "If you think too much about it, you're just going to get upset again." He somehow kept his face neutral during all of that, but he became acutely aware of some negative feelings he was trying to squash. And he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep them down. The more Keith ignored him in favor of musing about Shiro, or how hurt Shiro would be if he knew what happened, the more Lance struggled with keeping himself in check. But he promised he wouldn't show anger or pain or anything. He said he wasn't going to say anything until Keith worked out what he needed to work out, but it was becoming increasingly difficult.

Keith blinked and nodded his head. “Yeah. You're right.” His head hung somewhat lower. Was it wrong for to talk about these things with Lance? Was it something he should kept to himself? Lance had asked what Shiro said to get to him, and he was trying to explain it. Keith wasn’t good at this ‘interaction’ thing. Lance was always had better people skills than him, so he should follow his lead. “I’ll try not to worry about it.”

Lance sighed when Keith bowed his head. He should have known this wasn't going to go well. He was just trying to prevent Keith from upsetting himself, or from saying something that might make Lance unable to keep his mouth shut. "I've upset you." He sighed again and walked to the bed, resting his hand on Keith's head and gently stroking his hair. "I wasn't trying to. I just...don't know what you want me to say when you're talking about how you had a crush on him..." Maybe if he tried to make it a little more light-hearted, Keith would feel better again.

That white head lifted, but not to pull away from Lance’s hand. Is that really all this was? Some surface level jealousy? Lance had mentioned that in the past, and Keith could see how what he said wouldn’t be appreciated by the man he was sleeping with. 

“Oh! Sorry.” Keith expression became a little sheepish, and he blushed the tiniest amount. “I’m really not good at this.” 

Keith took a mental step away from the conversation and nodded his head. “Shiro was just saying things that our Shiro wouldn’t ever say. He was trying to get me upset. He was trying to get me to hurt him. Our Shiro is in there somewhere, and just like the ass he is, tried to get me to kill him to stop ‘him’ from doing any more damage.” Keith laid back on the bed, his feet still on the floor. 

“People die.” Keith laughed bitterly, “he said it like I don’t know. Like I don’t know that people can just vanish. Or that it doesn’t matter how much I care about someone, or how badly I need them around there’s sometimes nothing I can do.”

“Part of me - no most of me - doesn’t believe in fate or destiny. I don’t believe any type of grand scheme. I believe the only thing that’s been designed is the complete farce of all of us ‘just so happen’ to have the ability and the calling to pilot Voltron. Tsch… I was part Galra from the start. Probably planted here as part of a plan. I could feel your Lion. I felt Shiro land.” Keith’s jaw line tensed. “I can feel Lotor. I’m a damn homing beacon for bad luck.” 

“So yeah, people die. People connected to me die. And he just said to me, like I should accept it and had no right to try and fight it.” Keith shook his head. “I’m not going to stop trying. I’m not going to let you go. If I deserve you or not.” He turned his head toward Lance. “I can’t be without you.”

"The only one who's allowed to judge if you deserve me is me, so stop thinking you don't. And if anyone else tells you that you don't, then try to trust me and believe me, not them." Lance slid his fingers down his cheek to Keith's chin and lifted it a little more, grabbing it, though not roughly. "You don't have to worry about him doing any more damage right now. He's sleeping for as long as we need him to be asleep. I don't actually want to know what he said to you. I just want you to believe me. Don't let someone else's words convince you what I say isn't true. I'm not good enough at lying for that."

There came a warm tingle to his cheeks, a bashful attempt to downcast his eyes. It happened whenever Lance got possessive. Keith never looked away, but the struggle was as obvious as the pink on his cheeks. “Lance…”

"And don't tell me you can feel other men hm?" Lance kept a gentle hold of his chin. "The only one you should feel is me. And if you feel anyone else, you should come feel me instead."

There were several arguments that started in Keith’s head. Several more that pointed out how asinine those comments were, but Lance had a way of making Keith twenty times dumber by using a simple touch. Words left him. Concepts were ignored. The world could screw off. Lance’s eyes were burning into his. Lance’s hand was gripping his chin. So, considering that, all he could mutter was a useless, “Okay.” 

Lance slowly let go of his chin and moved his fingers to stroke his cheek. "Good." He smiled a bit, then sat down next to him.

Blue eyes blinked several times, his lips pursed to the side. Lance certainly was a bit of a jerk, wasn’t he? A caring, self-sacrificing, manipulative, adorable, dark skinned, curly haired, ass of a jerk. Just because he knew how to get Keith to shut up, didn’t give him the right to use it. However, Keith sighed in resignation and moved his head to lay in his lap. If Lance was going to play his card, then Keith allowed himself to be strung along. He wondered if the other man had a clue the kind of power he held over the Head of Voltron? Or if he was just some idiot savant. Well, either way, at least Lance was HIS jerk… 

"Oh, what's this?" Lance rested a hand on Keith's head and slowly ran his fingers through his hair. 

“Consequence.”

"Consequences are usually bad things, aren't they? I don't think this qualifies as bad, do you?"

“Depends on how easily your legs fall asleep.” Keith managed a cheeky grin. 

"You make it sound like I wouldn't be able to convince you to move if they do." Lance felt better seeing Keith grin like that. It meant he felt at least better enough to joke around. That was a vast improvement from earlier.

“Hmm, depends on if you’d want to.” Keith turned his body around so his legs were pulled up and curled slightly long side and behind Lance, one arm up as a pillow with his hand extended to lay at Lance’s waist, his other wrapped around behind him, conveniently propped up by a pillow so his fingers could casually slip into Lance’s shirt and just touch skin to skin and move in little idle circles.

Lance tried not to shift too much with Keith moved, though the position was a little more awkward for how his head was on his lap. "How are you comfortable like that? Are you actually a cat? I was joking that day, you know."

“Mm?” Those bottomless eyes looked up at Lance and the pupils seemed to narrow as if to comply with the joke. “Well you’ve made me purr a few times, haven’t you?” Keith smirked, his fingers still making listless designs on Lance’s back.

"I don't know about that, but I've definitely made you moan." Lance watched him, eyes half closing. 

“You have.” Keith smiled, his hair glowing like strands of silver in the metallic lighting of the room. “Among other things.” The curve of his lips moved into a smirk. “You sound pretty cocky now.”

"Well it's the truth, isn't it?" Lance pouted. "Should I not be pleased that I could make you feel good?"

“Well, aren’t there things I do to you?" 

"You do a lot of things to me." Lance reached down to touch his cheek. 

Keith nuzzled that darker hand. “Are any of those things ‘make you happy?’“

"Do you think I would let you affect me so much if you didn't make me happy?"

Keith smiled, nudging his head into Lance’s waist. “Despite everything else, you can still say that?” His arms tightened around the other paladin. “When you say things like that, it makes me feel like I can’t let go of you.”

"Just because there are things that happen that aren't happy or good...that doesn't mean I'm not happy." Lance shook his head and looked down at him. "Are you unhappy?"

“As long as I can return here, I feel like I can be happy.” Keith turned his head up to Lance. “I’m happy here with you.”

Lance smiled a little and tapped one of Keith's cheeks. "Then just make sure you return here, and you don't go anywhere else."

Those full lips chased after the offending finger kissing at it. “There is no place else. You are where I belong.” Keith spent his short life time looking for this very thing. All his disappointment in the world, his anger, his sadness, vanished right here in the arms of this Hispanic man. 

"If I didn't already think you were cute, I would think that now." Lance smiled a little at the kiss to his finger. "And I hope you still feel that way no matter what happens."

“That won’t be hard.” Keith closed his eyes and sighed softly. “Feelings like this don’t go away that easily.”

"That makes me feel a little better." Lance moved his fingers from Keith's lips to his hair, gently playing with the snowy strands. "I don't mean to be a little paranoid or jealous, I just can't help it. I'm not exactly the type of person I would have thought you'd like."

“Oh?” Keith turned so he was on his back. His hand regretfully pulling away from Lance’s well-muscled back, but he lifted it to hold his warm cheek. “What did you think I’d like? Someone mean? Someone who didn’t make me laugh? Someone I couldn’t trust with my life? Someone who wasn’t cocky? Or some one who had an uncomfortable lap? And not a handsome face? Smooth beautiful skin?”

“I didn’t think you’d think so highly of me.” Lance smiled a little and felt a bit of heat come to his cheeks. “I just figured you’d like someone more level headed and responsible.”

Keith frowned before he sat up his legs straddling Lance’s hips. He took the boy's face between his hands squishing his boyish cheeks. “I don’t want any of that. What I want is you.” He blinked a few times, “What I mean is, you are what I want. You talk me down, you keep me sane. You make me the leader this team needs by giving me a stable foundation.”

Lance let Keith hold his face, and he managed a little nod, though he didn't move it too much since he didn't want to move away from Keith's hands. "Okay. I'm not complaining that you like me. I like that you like me." He smiled a bit.

“Yeah?” The white-haired paladin smiled softly before he moved in, laying his head against Lance’s shoulder, his face pressed into his neck as he let his weight settle against him. He hoped it wasn’t too much for Lance to hold up, but he doubted there would be a problem. 

Lance's arms wrapped around Keith as he rested his cheek against his head, his eyes closing. "Yeah. It makes me pretty happy that you like me." 

“I might have noticed, a time or two.” Keith yawned and curled himself into Lance a little more.

“Well, I won’t complain.” Lance smiled a little and nuzzled Keith’s hair before starting to hum softly. Keith really needed to rest, so he would try to lull him to sleep.

“Hmm.” Keith turned his head up just enough so he could see Lance’s face. Was he really going to sing him to sleep? The concept left his cheeks burning. Lance was adorable. Keith’s stomach jumped and his heart quickened with a familiar giddy sensation.

Lance felt Keith's head move a bit, but he had already closed his eyes, his humming taking the form of a lullaby his mother used to sing for him when he was a child. He shifted and pulled Keith a little closer, nuzzling his hair again as his voice carried softly.

Keith was about to say his name, but stopped short when Lance started to sing. He didn’t understand the words but the soft Spanish lyrics lulled the young paladin as though a spell was cast. Lance’s voice was so warm, and gentle. He’d never heard him sing before and he was awed by the smooth tenor of his voice, the perfect pitch. Soon everything else felt heavy, his breathing evening out.

When Lance felt Keith settle with those tell-tale signs of sleep, he went back to humming the tune as he gently laid the other paladin back on the bed, lying on his side next to him and pushing some stray strands of platinum from his forehead. Keith needed the rest, and while Lance was half-embarrassed for singing a baby's lullaby, it was what always helped him. It looked like it helped Keith, too, and so he felt better about it.

Keith shifted a little, his face nuzzling the pillow Lance laid him on. It looked like a part of him wanted to fight it, but as Lance continued to hum, the will left, leaving only a paladin who slept peacefully, the day washed away and kept at bay by Lance’s doting attention.

Lance hummed for a few more moments before he stopped and just watched Keith sleep, trying to calm himself down a bit now that he didn't have to hide his anger from the other man. There were so many things he wanted to say, but he knew it wasn't the right time, and he knew that if he was supportive rather than accusatory, it would be best for both of them. Discussion could happen once Lance was in a better frame of mind, not when the anger was fresh. Keith didn't deserve that. He didn't need anyone lashing out at him right now.

\-----

Lance stood in front of Shiro's sleeping form. He frowned at how peaceful the former black paladin looked as he slept, and it angered him to see that man look so unconcerned with anything. Of course, he knew it was because he was in a forced sleep, but Lance was already angry, and seeing him so peaceful just made him angrier. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and closed his eyes, trying to organize his thoughts. If he was a worse person, he'd just push a button and pop Shiro out into space and blame it on some sort of malfunction, but he wasn't like that, and he couldn't do that to Keith when, for some reason, Keith thought all of this could be fixed.

Lance wasn't so sure.

He opened his eyes again and looked up at the man he used to call friend. The man who not only tried to kill him, but also tried to break Keith. Well, not tried. He definitely broke Keith, and Lance was sure that he would have seriously hurt the new leader, or worse, if Lance hadn't arrived when he did. Lance was also sure that if he had seen how much Shiro already hurt Keith, or he had heard any of their conversation, he wouldn't have stunned the man, but he would have shot him with the intent to kill him. But that would have broken Keith too, and for all the emotions muddling up in Lance's head, he was at least glad that he didn't do anything that would have hurt his lover.

In the meantime, Lance would hold it all in. He would keep himself as open to Keith's needs as possible. There would be time to deal with his own later. He also didn't want Keith to know just how betrayed he felt by this whole thing. He didn't blame Keith, really. He always knew how important Shiro was to him. But Keith would have died for him, and Lance wasn't sure he could forgive that just yet. He also didn't think he had the right to be angry and hurt by that, either. After all, he loved Keith. He would do anything for Keith. He just wasn't sure that Keith would choose him if push came to shove. If there ultimately had to be a choice between Shiro and Lance, Keith would surely choose Shiro, wouldn't he?

But Lance would never put Keith in that position. He wasn't that kind of person. Just like he wasn't the kind of person to yell at someone he cared about because he needed to vent his frustrations. He stared at the sleeping man in front of him and frowned again. Right now, he didn't particularly care about Shiro's feelings, so he wasn't going to feel bad for what he was about to say. He wasn't even sure Shiro would hear him, but if he could, then he deserved to feel bad for what he had done. 

"You're a jerk." Smooth Lance. Such a powerful, insulting statement. "I don't know exactly what you said or did to him, but I know he's not ever going to be the same because of you. Even if it wasn't _you_ who hurt him, and it was someone or something else. It was still your face and your hands and your voice." He clenched his fists at his sides. "And even if it's not you, and one day I can forgive you for trying to kill me, I'll never forgive you for what you did to him. He never deserved that. He will never deserve that. And he will never be completely okay because of it. Because of you." 

He paused, slowly unclenching his fists since he could feel his fingers cramping up. "But he still wants to fix you, or save you, or whatever." He couldn't stop the bitterness from seeping into his voice. "I think it's stupid. I think we should just keep you in here asleep forever, but it's not up to me." He stepped closer to the tube, his frown deepening. "But everyone knows, now. They all saw what you did. The recordings are there. I won't watch them. I refuse. I'm afraid I might kill you If I see them." He stepped back and shook his head.

"But Maybe Keith is right. Maybe you can be saved and fixed. For his sake, and only his sake, I hope that's true." He shook his head again. "And I hope you beg him for forgiveness when you are fine again. And I hope he doesn't forgive you, but he will because he is who he is. I won't, though. And if you ever hurt him again, I won't stun you either." 

With that, he turned and walked away, shoving his hands into his pockets and half stomping all the way back to his room. He steeled himself outside the door, taking a few deep, calming breaths before he unlocked it and went in, looking at Keith's still sleeping form on the bed. He shook out the last of his visible anger and sat down on the bed next to him, reaching out to touch his freshly-dyed hair, twisting some of the ebony strands between his fingers. "Hey..."

Keith shifted, a bare shoulder easing up from the covers exposing the lean seductive muscular curve of his back. Ivory hills and valleys, still marred by both Lance’s adoration and Shiro’s rage. He murmured something unintelligible at first, his throat too dry to speak, but the morning malaise only made him nuzzle his head further into the pillow. 

Lance relaxed just slightly at Keith's movements, seeing how he nuzzled into Lance's pillow while hugging his own was pretty cute, but seeing those bruises caused his anger to surge again, and he carefully pulled his fingers out of Keith's hair. He got up again and walked to his dresser, looking at himself in the mirror for a moment and pressing his fingers into the corners of his mouth as though that would prevent the angry expression from coming back. If he could push his cheeks up a little, it kind of looked like he could smile again.

“Where were you?” A voice finally whispered, sleep bedimmed eyes focusing on the other paladin. Keith didn’t move much, just folded his arms under his head and watched Lance through the mirror. He focused on himself for barely a second, at ease with his own reflection. Dying his hair back to black might be a step backwards, but Keith didn’t think he’d lost any ground. Lance’s Altean clarifying shampoo would make hopping between the two colors a breeze. The platinum hair was something reserved for Lance and Lance alone. Keith gave that part of himself to the other paladin, and he didn’t want to share himself with more people than he already had.

"I went for a walk." It wasn't untrue. Lance would just leave out the whole visiting Shiro and telling him off detail. "Did you sleep okay?" He still kept pushing his lips and cheeks in the mirror, as if a few more moments would help.

“Mm… I did.” The whisper of moving blankets filled the otherwise quiet room, and soon thin yet deceptively strong arms found their way around Lance’s shoulders. Keith’s face nudging into the back of his neck, gathering his scent. The Galra must have had an animal like inclination toward smells or scents. Keith was sensitive to it most of the time and when it came to Lance it was as though to he was marking the other’s scent on himself. “But then you were gone.”

"I'm sorry. I just had some energy I needed to get out, and I didn't want to wake you." Lance sighed a little at the nuzzle to the back of his neck. Some of his anger was dissipating, though he knew if he ended up seeing Keith's bruises in the mirror's reflection, the anger would just come back, so he closed his eyes and tried to focus on the good.

“Are you coming back to bed?” Keith’s lips moved behind Lance’s ear, his voice soft, alluring. Sounding so gentle as though he knew what was roiling inside the other paladin and Keith was saying, ‘ease yourself, come with me.’

Lance felt himself melt a little with those words. "Yes, of course..." He whispered, his eyes still closed. Right now, he would do almost anything Keith asked of him.

Effortlessly Keith pulled Lance with him, bringing him to the bed and guiding him down until his head laid upon his chest. “Better?” Keith bowed his head down to kiss one of Lance’s many cowlicks as his fingers played idly with his hair. His other hand smoothed over his back, in case Lance got any silly ideas like ‘getting up’.

"Yeah...thanks." Lance mumbled as he tried to press in a little closer and smush his cheek against Keith's chest. His eyes closed at the feeling of his fingers in his hair and on his back. "I love you." He murmured. Maybe it was too soon, but it just felt like he needed to let Keith know.

Keith’s hand froze. Was it that easy? Lance said those words like they were second nature. “So simply.” Keith spoke it allowed. “How?”

Lance slowly opened his eyes when Keith froze up like that. I was too soon, wasn't it? He nuzzled into Keith's chest for a moment before he turned so he could look up at him without pulling away from his touch, even if Keith's hands stopped moving. "How do I love you? Easily. How did I say it so simply? Well..." He watched the other paladin's face. "I just felt like I should let you know. It's not like I haven't felt it for a while. And maybe it's too soon after we started being like this, but I just wanted you to know. I felt like we'd both feel better if you did." He turned his head so his cheek was against his chest once more. "And if you want to reject it, that's ok. I won't take it back."

“Oh.” Keith swallowed. How could he express what was going on inside his head? He didn’t want to just say the words back to Lance. Something like that coming from Keith’s mouth would feel insincere. “I would never reject that.” Keith’s hand started to move again and he smiled softly. “I’d tell you that you’re the first thing I think about when I open my eyes. The last thing I think about before I close them again. I know I didn’t always have you with me, but I now I can’t picture myself without you.” He kissed the top of his head. “Your scent, your voice, the way you touch me, the way you make me feel every insane moment we’re together. You're what I need to get through the day. You’re what I want inside me, in every sense of the word."

"So you love me?" Lance closed his eyes again. "You don't have to try to show me up by making it sound way better because I said it first." But he was smiling. If Keith understood that much, then he definitely understood Lance's feelings, and that was enough for him.

“If that’s what it feels like, then yes.” Keith whispered, his lips in Lance’s hair. “I love you.”

There was a giddy, childlike laugh that escaped Lance's lips, and he didn't bother to hide it. "This is the best." He whispered, but he knew Keith heard him.

Keith blushed, head tilting to the side. “The best? So nothing is better than this, right now?”

Lance nuzzled his chest again. "Not better than you telling me you love me." 

“You’re a sap.” Keith smiled into Lance’s hair and held him like that for a long while. “We should get up. We’ve spent a lot of time in bed lately. That’s not going to fix our other problems.”

"You just asked me to come back to bed with you." Lance pouted. He was so comfortable like this. Why would he want to move just yet? This was the only place his anger couldn't reach him. 

His warm lips nuzzled along Lance’s hair line. “I didn’t say right now. You’re comfortable.” Keith purred and shifted though he were trying to get more under him. “Warm.”

"It sounded like you meant right now." Lance's eyes opened for a moment at Keith's shimmying, but then he closed them again and settled in more. "When should we get up then?"

“When it starts seeming grossly inappropriate for the leader of Voltron to be in bed with his lover and the red pilot, rather than liberating planets.” 

Lance winced a little and pouted again, but he pulled up and moved off of Keith, shaking his head. "If there was something they needed either of us for, they would have called us." He sighed. "It hasn't been that long, and no one wants to disturb you when you needed a little time." He slid off the bed and looked over his shoulder at him. "If you're that worried about being grossly inappropriate, then go out there and see them."

Keith’s brows furrowed together. He didn’t mean to upset Lance. He had been joking. “I should probably leave the jokes to Hunk.” He reached his hand over and laid it on Lance’s back. 

"If you want slightly offensive jokes, sure." Lance shook his head. "But it must bother you in some way if you mentioned it, even as a joke. So why don't you just go out and see them?"

“After what happened?” Keith sat up, his black hair falling forward hiding his face. “I don’t know if I’m ready to do it alone.”

"Then why would you say we're being grossly inappropriate?" Lance turned and looked at him, brows furrowed. "If you're not ready, you're not ready. There's nothing wrong with that..."

“Not by myself.” Keith admitted with a tiny pout. “Grossly inappropriate, because I’m taking a liberty I shouldn’t have. Voltron comes first. While I’m here feeling sorry for myself, and spoiling myself with you. People are hurting far more than I am.”

"I wouldn't have made you go by yourself..." Lance shook his head a little and took Keith's hands, squeezing them gently. "Voltron is all of us. Taking care of us in any way is also taking care of Voltron. You're our leader. You're the black paladin now. You're literally the head. If the head isn't well, how can the body function properly? The head needs to be taken care of just as much as the arms and the legs. We all know this. We all understand and agree with this. If there was a problem, someone would have told us. No one wants to rush you if they don't have to." He leaned down and kissed the top of his head.

"You're allowed to feel sorry for yourself. You're allowed to hurt. You're allowed to need time to recover. You were injured in multiple ways. You can't just put everything on your shoulders and force yourself to get better instantly. It takes time. You, of all people, deserve to take that time." 

“What about you?” Keith’s fingers moved over the back of Lance’s hands. “You were hurt. You’re hurting now.”

"When I was hurt, I took time to heal. My back and everything is fine again." Lance shook his head. 

“I’m not talking about that.” Keith lifted his hand to touch Lance’s shoulder, then his neck. He brought himself up, pulling him closer, his forehead pressing to Lance’s. 

"I was avoiding it on purpose..." Lance whispered, closing his eyes when his forehead touched Keith's.

“I know.” Keith stroked that coarse hair, twisting one lock in his fingers, “Because you’re an idiot and think I’m supposed to be able to do the things you can’t.” His lips turned up in a sad smile. “I won’t force you to talk, but when you’re ready.” He kissed Lance’s eye lids, his long lashes brushing against Lance’s forehead with each kiss.

"It's not about me being ready." Lance's voice got soft. "It's about you being ready. You're not ready to hear what I'd say, and I refuse to make you feel bad just so I can feel better."

Keith sat back on his legs, black hair falling in his eyes as he gauged the other. “That somehow feels unfair.” His shoulders slumped. “Well, whatever. You’re not going to tell me, so I’m not going to press.” He didn’t bother hiding the dejection in his voice.

Lance watched him. "Why...would I say things to you that are going to hurt and upset you when you're already in pain from what happened?" His brows furrowed. "I'm trying to be good to you. I'm trying to help you heal a little. I don't want to keep your wounds open, and I wanted a little time to calm my own anger. But when you act like this..." He shook his head and looked off to the side, staring at the wall. "I was—am—angry with you. I don't want to be. I don't like it. But I am. You want to talk about unfair? How about being so upset when I was hurt, knowing how that felt to see someone you love in that much pain, and then you just throw yourself into it? If I didn't get there when I did, you would have let Shiro hurt you! How is that fair?"

Keith bit his lower lip and remained still as Lance let it out. He wasn’t shocked. The fact that he kept it in so long was more startling than anything the other boy told him. There were a few options Keith had in front of him. Was he agitated? Yes, of course he was. Was he wounded by his words? Yes, but not as much as Lance seemed to think he would be. Was he feeling guilty because Lance was right? Yes. Lance had a valid point. “You’re right. It’s not fair. I acted on a whim. I wanted to see how far Shiro would take it. I was willing risk everything to it.” Keith sighed. 

“You love your family, right?” Keith’s eyes barely flickered up at Lance. “How far would you go for them? If you can tell me I was out of line, that I had no right to risk myself. I’ll agree. But if you could save even one person in your family, what’s too far?” 

“My choices hurt you. I’m sorry I ever had to do that. Even though you are good to me, you’ve helped me, and you’ve put myself before everything else. I don’t deserve you. I don’t deserve that level of devotion.” His touched his hand to Lance’s chest. “I’m clumsy with other people’s hearts because I never learned what to do with mine. So selfishly, I gave it to you without understanding how to hold yours in return.”

Lance bowed his head, his shoulders trembling as he tried to contain his emotions. On the one hand, he totally understood that feeling of family. Of course he did. He would do anything for his family, so he understood. On the other, Keith just made it perfectly clear that he would do anything for Shiro. Anything, including die. And he really wanted to tell Keith he was right, that he didn't deserve his love right now, but he didn't really believe that, and he would just be saying it to hurt him. That's what fights were, right? Saying things to hurt other people?

"I'm your family, too. So is Pidge, and Hunk, and Allura and Coran. We're all your family." He clenched his fists and kept his head bowed, staring at the ground so he didn't have to see the other paladin. "And you're the only one who doesn't see that. You only see Shiro." He practically spat out the words, not at all hiding his anger or his bitterness. "If I hadn't gotten there to stop him in time, and he had hurt you or worse, I would have killed him, and your stupid selfish inconsiderate sacrifice would have been for nothing." He lifted his head, and his eyes were red, tears sliding down his cheeks. Angry tears. Sad tears. Broken tears. Keith had made his choice, and now Lance would suffer for it. "Give it back."

Ice clutched at Keith’s chest. Lance’s last words chilled down his nerves and left every part of him numb, yet he felt his eyes burn painfully. He shifted his weight, falling back against the wall. This is what it felt like? Why do people do this time and time again? Why willingly suffer so much just to connect with another person? Was it worth it? Keith closed his eyes and briefly went through the last two weeks with Lance. God help him, it was worth every touch of frostbite he was feeling now.

“If you mean that, I can’t stop you.” Keith’s reply was a low whisper. “But you’re right, and I knew that. You are the only family I have. Without Voltron and the paladins, there’s nothing out there for me. I’m not going to find my mother on some hidden Galran base planet. I don’t have anyone waiting for my return.” Keith swallowed back on the lump growing in his throat. “Right now, back on Earth, you have family that’s waiting for you. Hunting madly for you. People that would give anything to have you return to them. Terrified that the worst happened to you.” Keith’s legs now bent up as if he could shield himself from Lance’s next attack on him. “Imagine how happy they’ll be when you come home. When you walk in that door after so long. The smile on your mother’s face would probably brighten up the room.” Keith’s head lulled to the side, eyeing his dagger before closing his eyes against the images of a small boy waiting at a dusty table for a door to open.

“My purpose, no matter how I end up, is to at least get you that far. To give you back to them. It’s not just about Shiro. I would do the same thing for each and every one of you. Because you’re my family. Because when this is all over, you can at least tell them that I brought you home.”

"You're such an idiot, Keith!" Lance lifted his hands to wipe at his own cheeks. Normally, he would be mortified that he was crying. This wasn't something he did. He was the one who played it cool. But his anger and his pain were just too much right now. Keith had no idea what he was doing to him, did he? 

"You're the one saying you don't deserve this and that. If you don't want me, and you want to break up with me, just say so! I'm not ever going to love anyone else the way I love you, so stop beating around the bush. Stop saying all these things that are hurtful. Are you trying to break me? Do you even hear yourself? I might be a paladin, but I'm still me, and if you think you still have nothing left after all this, then just break it off now." He sighed and sank to the floor, his hands falling into his lap as he bowed his head again. "Don't say stupid things like you can't stop me...You can stop me. It'd be easy. Unless you want to just let me go." He clenched his fists as a few more drops dripped from his chin. 

"I don't want to go back to Earth if I can't have you with me..." He said quietly after blinking back a few more tears, but he kept himself on the floor with his head bowed. "How happy could my family be to see me if I'm just an empty shell without you?"

Lance didn’t appear to understand the absurdity of his own words. The universe didn’t value Keith as much as this one man appeared to. The universe didn’t care about the tears of a child waiting at home, hoping for it give back everything he’d lost. It particularly didn’t care how many times the same damn thing happened to the same person. Keith was finally able to fight back, to stop it from happening to the families of people he cared about. Why couldn’t Lance understand that? 

Even as his own eyes were haunted by memories, they coolly watched Lance crumble to the floor. “Never doubt the value of your existence when it comes to the people who are left behind.” Keith sat up and moved to the edge of the bed, watching the boy for a moment longer before he pulled his head to his lap. “I'd never forgive you if you made the woman who taught you that song cry.” Tender fingers pushed through Lance’s hair. “You’d really bring me home to them?”

"Of course I would. You're so stupid sometimes." Lance sighed and let Keith move his head however he wanted to. He just didn't have the energy to fight it right now. "I know you had a really difficult time, and I know you don't value yourself as much as you should because you don't think you deserve it, but I'm not going to leave you, idiot." He sighed again and closed his eyes. "And I'll never forgive you if you leave me. So don't say lonely things like you have no one, or you're just going to make sure everyone else gets home. What am I to you if I'm not someone for you, and if I can't give you a home?"

Keith’s eyes widened, his fingers stopping for a brief second. “You want to give me all that?”

"That's what loving someone means." Lance sighed and kept his eyes closed. "This is why I didn't want to talk about how I felt until you felt better. You think you're worthless, and I think you're worth everything."

He bowed his body over Lance’s, his arms coming up to hug his head to his waist as tears fell unchecked down Keith’s flushed cheeks. His hands trembled and tried to stabilize but it only made the shake worse. “Do you, do you think, do you think they’ll like me?”

Lance said nothing until he got up and sat on the bed next to Keith, pulling him into his arms. "Of course they'll like you." He whispered into his hair as he nuzzled the top of his head. "They'll like you because you're very likeable even when you're being a stubborn jerk." He shook his head. "They'll probably like you more than they like me."

The ice he felt earlier thawed, and now washed away from his body with crystalized tears. Lance probably couldn’t fathom what he’d just given the orphaned boy. Keith wouldn’t want him to understand. He curled into Lance, his arms wrapping around him and gripping his shirt. “I’m sorry.”

"I'm sorry too." Lance held him a little closer, rubbing his back gently. 

“Don’t take it back from me.” Keith pressed his face into Lance’s chest, his hands twisting into the back of his shirt. “I want to keep it. Even if I’m clueless.”

"I won't. I thought you were breaking up with me, so I said that in anger. I'm sorry." Lance kept rubbing his back. "Will you trust me to teach you how to hold it?"

Keith’s nod was childlike, accompanied by several sniffs as he tried to reign in his tears. Crying hurt, and it stung his eyes and blocked up his nose, and once a person starts crying it’s so damn hard to stop. It’s like flood gates open and every bad emotion he felt over the last year determined it needed to be cleansed from his body. 

"I won't tell anyone you cried if you don't tell anyone I did." Lance whispered into his hair, trying to calm the paladin in his arms. "This can be our little secret. We both look pretty ridiculous when we cry." 

“I do?” Keith tilted his head up to Lance. Those dark eyes shimmering with tears and catching every dusting of starlight filtering in through the window in Lance’s room. The freshly dyed hair laid like black velvet around his cheeks, show casing individual tears as if it were a precious gem. His usually pale pink lips were made ruddy swollen by Keith’s own anxious nibbles.  
"Yeah. You look ridiculously pretty, and I don't want to share you." Lance leaned in and kissed those swollen lips, a soft, gentle kiss that had more feeling behind it than he knew how to articulate.

“Pretty? I’d rather be call cu—Nn.” Lance’s kiss cut off the paladin’s complaint and Keith was more than content to let the thought remain unfinished as he complied with Lance’s kiss. It was so sweet and soft yet it pulled on every muscle that forced his heart to beat. He drew his fingers up touching the edges of Lance’s lips that he couldn’t cover his own. “Your secret’s safe.” He whispered. 

"Ours. It's our secret." Lance whispered in return.


	5. Canopy

“And that’s how it’s been.” Keith leaned his back against the frosted green glass of the Cryo-sleep chamber, his head bent forward over crossed arms. “We’ve been doing well enough over the last few weeks, stopping Galra attacks and supporting uprisings. ‘Hero Stuff’ as Hunk calls it.” Keith gave a brief smile. 

“But the problem is, there’s only one Voltron and a lot of planets. Most don’t even have a space fleet of their own. Allura is hopeful and there’s always the Olkari. With their backing, we can make simple ships that anyone could fly, but even that requires training.” 

“Lotor is another issue. I haven’t sensed him in a while.” Keith sighed, he hated to admit the idea out loud, but much like with Shiro or the Blue Lion, Keith could feel the Galran prince. Uneasy did not begin to describe the sensation. He wasn’t dumb enough to think it a one-way ability.

“Lance gets upset when I talk about it.” Keith shrugged his shoulders. “Like I can control it. Or like I want to have a connection with him. The only thing I want to do is hunt him down and get him out of the way.” Keith clenched his fist as he grumbled. 

“Well, I should get back to the others. They get worried if I stay here too long.” Keith turned and placed his hand on the glass, smiling expressing warmth, as though Shiro could see his face. 

“I don’t blame you, Shiro. None of us do.” Keith paused, wincing. “Most of us don’t. Lance, well he’ll come around once we figure out how to help you, and your back to the Shiro we all knew.” He tapped on the glass one more time and walked out of the infirmary. 

\-----

It was no secret that Lance was in a foul mood. He had been huffing a bit on the bridge when Allura told him to leave. He would have retorted, but she was practically oozing sympathy when she said it. She wasn't annoyed, she was worried. Of course she was worried. Things had been even more messed up than usual since Keith had gotten hurt, and Lance wasn't exactly good at hiding his emotions. Every time anyone mentioned Shiro, he frowned and looked away. At this point, he was pretty sure his face was twisted into a perpetual expression of annoyance. If Keith mentioned Shiro? His expression soured even more. 

But Keith going to _see_ Shiro was more than he wanted to deal with on a good day. He could be all business when he needed to be, but when he didn't, he probably seemed one sharp comment away from a tantrum. So when Allura told him to leave, he knew he was probably getting to that point, and he simply nodded, murmured an apology, and headed to the observation deck. At least there he could huff and mutter without making any of his friends think he was on the verge of exploding.

“La--" Keith started to call out to the paladin, seeing him round the corner, but he stopped short, his hand in the air with a wince on his face. For a second he debated on just pretending he hadn’t seen anything and continue on his way to the bridge. Some days it was best to leave Lance alone and allow him the chance to talk himself down. Today was not one of those days.

Keith followed the taller man onto the deck, smiling as he stood beside him, shoulder to shoulder and turned toward the window. He was convinced, no matter how many times he stood here, the view was never going to get old. Every time the ship stopped, there would be a wonder he had never seen before, something to take his breath away. 

Keith stepped up to the window, unable to hide the wonder in his eyes. Red, blue, orange, pink, and green clouds of dust reached across each other, igniting the observatory in swatches of color. Beyond the clouds, two galaxies were merging. Gravity gripping and stretching one pinwheel arm of stars into another. “Wow, I’ve never seen anything like that.” 

He knew Keith had followed him. He knew the sound of those footsteps as though they were his own. He probably should have stopped and allowed Keith to catch up to him, but he needed to cool his head before he said anything. Of course, the other paladin being so close behind actually made that impossible, but he could still try, right?

"Yeah..." Lance's voice betrayed his complete lack of interest in the topic at hand. Normally he would agree excitedly, going on about how cool everything looked, but he just didn't have it in him to fake it right now. He didn't like being like this. He knew he should try to be more understanding about everything, but he meant it when he said he would likely never forgive Shiro for what he had done, so seeing Keith fall right into it was a little painful, though not unexpected. 

Keith sighed. “You don’t have to fake it. I know you’re upset.” His voice was soft, as it always was when he tried to breach the ‘Shiro’ topic. “How can I make it better?” Keith knew the obvious answer, but it was not an option if Keith was to be true to himself.

He faced Lance, his form backlit by the radiance of the multicolored nebula. He stepped forward, his head tilting to the side, a streak of orange light highlighting the new pink skin of the cut crossing Keith’s cheek. 

"How can you ask me that when you're still not fully healed?" Lance sighed when he finally looked at Keith, lifting his hand to gently touch his cheek just under that line. He knew it was from his stun-shot, but he still blamed Shiro for it. If Shiro hadn't done what he did, Lance wouldn’t have had to shoot him, and Keith's cheek wouldn't have gotten cut. "It's not like I want to feel like this, you know..."

“I know.” Keith bowed his head toward Lance’s hand, allowing the gentle touch. He knew the cut annoyed Lance more than the it deserved. To Keith it was just a scar, well not even a scar. It would fade and in another week, there’d be nothing left to mark his face. “It’s okay to feel the way you do. I can’t say that I don’t understand. But I can’t abandon him. He’s not like Sendak. He’s one of us.” Keith placed his hand on Lance’s chest.

“I know you’re hurt and angry. But a part of you wants your Shiro back too. He was a hero to you. Aren’t you curious to know if he can return? Or at the very least, punish the people that hurt our friend?” 

"Don't do that. That's not fair." Lance bowed his head and closed his eyes, but he didn't pull away from Keith. "Don't think I'm a better person than I am right now. I'll only disappoint you."

“Nah, I’ve never thought you were a better person. I do know the kind of person you are.” Keith leaned in and nuzzled his nose against Lance’s cheek. The physical contact was more for Keith than for Lance, it eased him while they were discussing complicated issues.

“You care about him, but you’re angry at him for letting them do what they did and then for trying to make me ‘clean it up’.” Keith’s fingers stroked over Lance’s hand, easing the boy to come in closer. Lance also liked being touched, and Keith wasn’t above manipulating his preferences to relax him.

“I’m pissed at him too. When we get him out of there, I’m going to kick his ass first. Then you can have what’s left. But until then…”

"I'm also angry that he tried to kill me, you know." Lance muttered and sighed. Keith was totally manipulating him, but did he care enough to stop him? No. He needed some affection right now. It eased him. It made things seem like they would be okay, even if he wasn't sure they would be. He leaned forward and rested his head against Keith's shoulder. 

Keith kissed the edge of Lance’s ear, his fingers sliding up to his neck, twisting in the fine fringes of his hair. “Yeah, I’m still pissed at him for that one too.” He inhaled his scent, picturing waves on a night time beach at the turn of summer into autumn. Keith never wanted to lose this and few things scared him more than knowing he almost did.

“Hey,” Keith turned his head, lips and breath moving against the gentle slope of Lance’s ear. “Let me take you out. I promised that a few weeks ago, didn’t I? I’ll talk to Allura. Just you and me. No castle, no lions.” Keith paused. “Well maybe one lion. No paladins. Just you and me.” Keith used the tone he always did when he tried to sweeten a deal with Lance. Soft, alluring. A siren's call. But unlike any ancient myths, Keith always made good his promises.

Lance's body shuddered when Keith kissed his ear like that. Heat seemed to spread from that spot throughout his body, and he just nodded dumbly to Keith's suggestion. He would agree to anything right now, even if he shouldn't.

Keith might have felt guilty for the gentle manipulation, but he needed to get Lance away from everything before the boy broke any more than he already had. “Go get ready. I’ll tell Allura we’re leaving. But we’ll be within a tick of the castle in case something happens.” He pulled away, dragging his hand with him so it graced over Lance’s cheek, the smile on his lips reserved only for the other paladin. 

Lance let out a soft whimper when Keith pulled away, and his body learned towards the smaller paladin before he caught himself and lifted his head. "O...Okay." He nodded and looked at Keith almost helplessly, like he couldn't actually figure out what to do now that the contact was broken. 

“Do you want to take Red or Black?” Keith asked, spacing out each word and allowing Lance a moment to gather his thoughts.

Keith had learned several things about Lance in the short time they’ve been together. One being that Lance was a hopeless romantic. A gesture from Keith, and Lance was swept off his feet. It did not make Keith’s life easier. He walked a thin line between pleasing Lance and taking advantage of him. Not to say Keith was without romantic foils. For instance, he melted whenever Lance sang or spoke even the most guttural of Spanish phrases. A blow in his ear, a bite to his neck, or a caress at the back of his knee and Keith was gone. Sometimes, their weaknesses were just each other. When the Galra blood inside Keith roiled to the scent of Lance’s arousal, it became something hot and feral. Keith would claw, bite, and beg with growled swears with Lance never letting on if it bothered him.

Keith sensed one of those moments settle upon the room. He became lightheaded but suppressed his desire. “I suggest Red. We can hurry back if we need to.” Despite himself Keith touched Lance’s cheek watching his fingers trail down his jaw to the smooth brown column of his neck.

"H-huh?" Lance just barely snapped out of his trance when he felt those fingers slide down along his neck, and his eyes half closed. He almost fell right back into it, but the pull wasn't as strong as it was whenever Keith did anything to his ear. "Yeah...sure. Red. Ok." He managed, his cheeks flushed.

“I’ll meet you in a varga.” Keith leaned in, his eyes partly closing. “Bring extra clothes.” Keith sucked in his lower lip fighting the urge. They could do it right now, no one would know, and it wouldn’t be the first time Lance pressed him up against the window glass. Keith bit down on his lip and stepped away from Lance. 

"T...That long?" Lance pouted when Keith stepped away again, but he nodded a little. "Okay." Did Keith do this to him on purpose? 

The smallest of shy blushes came to Keith cheeks. “I want to shower first.”

Lance's blush darkened. "Oh." He looked at him sheepishly. "Okay."

“So go already!” Keith nudge Lance with a playful check of his hip.

With another mute nod, Lance half stumbled out of the observation deck. The more he thought about what just happened, and what was about to happen, the hotter his face became. He wasn't even aware of anything but his own thoughts, and when he finally stopped to get his bearings, he was already in the hangar, looking up at Red with a bewildered expression. He had completely managed to get ready, get extra clothes, and come down here without even realizing it.

Keith was waiting for him, sitting on Red’s paw like he had a thousand times. Keith might not be the Red Lion's paladin anymore, but the bond the two had still felt strong. Red was ferocious in her protection of Keith, and it felt that her choice to be with Lance was another reflection of that rigidity. 

“I grabbed some extra stuff. I’m glad I didn’t keep you waiting.” Keith had a small pack slung over his shoulder. His hair falling soft around his face, fresh from the shower, and scented with aromatic spice of Altean soaps. 

“Ready?” He stood, helmet under his arm.

Lance looked at him and blinked. "Oh. Yes." He nodded and looked at the bag, then back at Keith before he pulled his helmet on, waiting for him to be ready before he stepped into Red and held his hand out to him. 

Keith joined Lance inside Red, leaning against the seat as his hand slid over the back of it. Keith would be fooling himself if he said seeing someone else in Red’s chair was not hard. It hurt a part of him, but he kept silent. Lance had to give up his beloved Blue. The transition was not easy for either of them, but they had faith in the Lion’s choices. 

“Looks like you’re really getting used to her.” 

"Well, she tolerates me at least." Lance glanced up at him and smiled just slightly. It was weird, like this. This was Keith's place not too long ago, and now it was his. It felt like he was being intrusive, even though Red had made the decision for them. "Where to?"

“Do you mind?” Keith asked more of the lion than of Lance as he reached over to enter in coordinates. His stomach pressing against Lance’s arm as he did so. On the screen a red rectangle sighting scope honed in on a location in the middle of no where. “Just head there and watch for a planet.”

Lance peered at Keith and then at the screen. "Okay." He grabbed the controls and headed in that direction, looking straight ahead, his eyes widening when a blue speck glowed in the distance. And those eyes widened more the closer he got. The entire planet seemed to shimmer. "Here?" He asked, though he knew the answer, and he headed into the atmosphere to find a place to land. When the clouds cleared from the monitors, and those first tell-tale pats of rain plinked, Lance almost squealed with delight. "What? How did you?"

“I had Allura check for the closest Earth like planet with hydrogen oxygen rain. She showed me this. It’s technically a moon but...” Keith smiled as he looked out the monitor, Red had found a series of large flat rocks protruding from the water’s surface. The was water so pure and clear it reflected a mirror image of the setting gas giant. Bands of in shades of blue and greens made up the monster’s surface and melted seamlessly into an oceanic horizon. 

“It’s just harmless rain. I know it isn’t Earth, but for now we can pretend.”

Lance stared at him as Red landed and settled, his mouth open, and no sound other than squeaks. He didn't even know how to express how much this meant to him, so he just got up from his seat and hugged Keith, before he practically ran out of the lion, pulling his helmet off so he could feel the rain hit his face. 

Keith walked slowly down the ramp, his eyes closed as the rain-scented wind tossed his hair around his face having left his helmet resting back in Lance’s seat. When he opened his eyes, Lance’s pure childish joy was infectious and forced a wide smile on Keith’s face. The urge was so strong he could not fight it, even if he wished to. He reminded him of a child from a Christmas movie, desperately waiting for his next present.

Keith walked further down and out from the cover of the lion and into the gently wafting storm, he titled his head back, his lashes catching tiny droplets.

Lance couldn't help it. He barely let the rain hit his face for more than a few moments before he was pulling his armor and his clothing off, down to his underwear, so he could feel it. Of all of the things to miss about home, this little thing made everything so much more bearable. And as the rain hit his shoulders, his arms, his torso, and his legs, he felt the anger sizzle out of him, replaced with a giddy feeling. "This is amazing!"

Keith chuckled and brought his head back down and sputtered. “Urk!” 

Keith wasn’t expecting to see a half-naked Lance, and he briefly wondered if this was truly an inhabited planet or not. He was about to say something, his hand lifting to air to make a few points but he stopped. Keith stood there taking in the full sight of Lance’s caramel skin. Water splashed and beaded on his shoulders and over his chest before running down the valleys of his body. Keith’s body betrayed his stillness with a shiver. “Yeah? You really like it?”

"Are you kidding?" Lance turned to face Keith, not even bothered by the fact that he was now dripping with water and that his underwear was wet and clinging to the most intimate parts of his body. "This is the best!" He took Keith's hands and held them for a moment before he leaned in and kissed him, grinning a bit against his lips when it was done. "Though you're wearing too much for something like this."

“H-huh?” Keith blinked, baffled as he licked rain water from his lips. “Too much?”

Lance kissed him again. "It's better to feel the rain on your skin, not soaking through your clothes." He smiled.

“Y-yeah.” Keith dumbly nodded his head, stepping away. He unclasped his armor and pulled his black under armor over his head before he looked up at Lance’s face shivering deliciously at the kiss of rain against his pale skin. 

Lance watched him, smiling, but his eyes glimmered with the faintest hint of something other than pure happiness. He reached out and slid a finger down over Keith's shoulder and arm, his fingers dancing over the wet flesh as though he were connecting droplets of rain.

“Lance…” Keith sighed, cheeks pinking as his eyes bashfully looked away. “I’ll make sure you make it home so you can share things like this with your family.”

"We." Lance pulled his hand back from Keith's arm only to touch his cheek. "Not me. We." He leaned in to kiss him. He did not want to have that argument again. 

“We. I’ll get us home.” Keith kissed water from Lance’s fingers. 

"Better." Lance pulled his hand away from Keith's lips so he could give him a much better kiss.

“Mm…” Keith purred, melting with the rain and tasting its purity once gain in Lance's kiss. His hair started to hang wet and thick over his face and shoulders. Out of annoyance he pushed his bangs out of his face, slicking them back with the rest of his hair.

Lance grinned against his lips and kissed him once more before he stepped back to tilt his head back up towards the sky once more, eyes closed. "Thank you."

Keith leaned forward and got up on his toes to nuzzle Lance’s cheek. “You have put up with a lot, and I don’t show things the way a normal person would. I’m aware that there is an endless number of people in the universe that would be kinder, more thoughtful, more aware, more well apt at being in a relationship, and despite that you still want me.” Keith followed his hand as it moved over Lance’s chest, desperate for anything to look at other than his face. The words were too embarrassing. “Considering everything you do, I wanted to do something for you too.” His cheeks were burning. “I-I love you.”

Lance was glad his eyes were closed, and that he was already soaked by the rain. If he had opened his eyes during any of Keith's little speech, the tears would have escaped and slid down his cheeks. As it was, they threatened to fall when he opened his eyes at the end of it and turned to look at him. "I don't want anyone else." He rested his hand on the one Keith placed on his chest and he smiled, though his lips quivered. "I'm sorry I'm not as understanding as I should be. I do support you, and I don't resent you or anything for the things that are happening or the choices you make. Sometimes I just can't absorb it, and I end up being unfair to you. I don't mean to be." He leaned in and kissed each of Keith's red cheeks. "I love you. It's because I love you that I'm worried you'll change your mind and leave me."

“How can that be possible?” Keith kissed those tears, his tongue tasting their mixture in the rain. “I can’t picture myself without you. And you keep thinking about how I’m going to run away.”

"I don't think about it really. I am afraid of it." Lance hadn't noticed his eyes released those tears, but he wasn't unhappy that Keith was trying to comfort him. "It's because I'm happy. I don't know if I deserve to be."

“You deserve it.” His warm full lips nuzzled to Lances ear, kissing and nibbling along the way. “I’d give you everything. I-I’ve never felt that way before. But I want to. I can’t explain it.”

"Nnn..." Lance whimpered at those kisses and nibbles. "I trust you. Even if it doesn't seem like it, I do." 

“I have one more thing I want to give you. I want to take care of you, how you take care of me. Can I spoil you?” Keith licked at Lance’s ear, sucking then biting at the lobe.

Lance's knees buckled a little, but he somehow managed to keep himself upright when Keith nibbled on his earlobe. He let out a soft moan, unable to say much else at the moment.

Pliant lips drew down over Lance’s jaw. “Give me a second. If you change your mind, just tell me.” Keith stepped away to dig around in the small sack he brought. His eyes lit up when he pulled out a small white cube. It fit perfectly in his hand and as he inspected it, the expression on his face became more incredulous but not without a fair level of curiosity. Keith shrugged and threw the box under where Red stood.

A pop echoed around the paladins and of the water. Before the box could land on the ground a decently sized two person tent exploded into existence, with a canopy entrance and warm lighting beaconing entry into a room of soft downy blankets and pillows. Keith was impressed and whistled. “That unalu wasn’t kidding.” 

Lance whimpered when Keith left him, and he almost sank to his knees, but by some good grace he was able to remain standing. The fog cleared enough to see that tent appear, and he blinked. "What...?" He looked at the dry blankets and pillows, then down at his own wet body. "Um..."

“Come on. It’s okay.” Keith slid his hand down Lance’s arm without turning away from the tent, until he found his fingers to hold. He pulled him inside, and Keith felt like he could melt here. The sound of rain and waves were just outside, the flap still open to carry the scent to them. “At least I hope so.” He brought the hand he held around his waist, pressing it out over his stomach. 

Keith scanned the room, blushing more as the arrangement of the pillows on the floor, the mood lighting strewn across the ceiling, and the lack of chairs to sit on, made the purpose of this tent painfully obvious. Keith leaned back against Lance’s chest. “Woah…”

Lance let Keith pull him into the tent and he blushed just faintly. "But we're wet..." He murmured, looking around at everything. But then he focused on Keith again and blushed more when he pressed against him. "Keith..."

Keith turned his head up against Lance’s shoulder. “I’ll dry you.” He left briefly and returned with a white soft towel. He started by stroking it over Lance’s cheek, and his neck. As he started to pat dry Lance’s chest, his hands were more shy and uncertain. “Is it, too much? Am I doing it okay?” 

"No...It's not too much." Lance watched him and smiled a little. "Keith, you don't have to be extra nice to me...It's okay. I'm okay..."

“It’s not something that I have to do.” Keith fingers twisted nervously in the towel, his padding slowing when he reached Lance’s waist, water dripping from his hair. “It’s not anything extra either.” If Lance hadn’t known better that almost sounded like a pout. “I wanted to do something. I know you’re the romantic type from how you touch me.” Did Keith just say that! He lifted the towel to his face to hide his blush. He took a moment to gather his thoughts. 

“I kind of fail at that and get swept up in the moment because something feels good, or I’m really kinda feeling ‘it’ ya know? You’re worth more than that to me.” 

"Oh." Lance felt the heat in his cheeks as he reached to touch Keith's hand. "Considering you planned something like this, I wouldn't say you fail at it. You're doing a better job than me." He pouted a little, mostly joking, but if he was the romantic type, how come Keith beat him at his own game? "At least let me help you dry off too. Do you have another towel?"

Keith offered a sympathetic smile. It wasn’t like he tried to one up Lance. Keith was just one of those people. He didn’t have to try. Not in school, not in fighting, and not in piloting. It was aggravating because he never learned how to be mediocre. Failure, real failure, was not an option. Except when it came to shooting. Keith had horrible aim with guns. He preferred knives and swords for a reason. It was not some weird reason like ‘more personal.’ Keith wasn’t screwed up to that point. He was just better with blades. 

“Towels are over there.” Keith took Lance’s hand into his, preventing him from going anywhere as he brought it up to his lips and kissed the back of his fingers, his hand, then nuzzled down to his wrist. His water-laden hair had started to slip forward, hiding one of Keith’s indigo eyes from view, but it didn’t distract from the meaning they conveyed. ‘Can you walk away from me?’

"But Lance you are romantic." Lance murmured as he watched Keith kiss and nuzzle his hand and wrist. "I love how romantic you are, even if you haven't been able to do anything like this." He shook his head and gently pulled his hand away from Keith's, only to cup his cheek in his hand and brush his thumb over his lower lip. "You make it very difficult to say no to you when you get extra sexy like that." He leaned in and replaced his thumb with his lips, kissing him gently. "But you don't have to try to seduce me to make me feel better. You can just tell me I'm not as bad at something as I seem to think I am." 

Keith’s breath shivered against Lance’s thumb. His head tilting with his waning resolve to play the lead this time. Even whimpering into his kiss. “I think you’re very romantic. I just want to be everything to you that you are to me.”

“I love how romantic you are. How I can feel at peace when it’s just you and me. How you touch me to settle me in a crowd of people, and I instantly feel my anxiety melt away. But you make me feel that it’s okay I’m like that.”

"You are everything to me." Lance smiled and kissed him again. "There's not an aspect of my life that I don't want you to be a part of." He slowly stepped back, looking at him. "You are my light, my warmth, my happiness." He touched Keith's hand. "But you're also soaked, and I want to dry you off before we get on all those pillows." 

Keith wanted to punch Lance for making his face flare to where is ears became scarlet. “Lance!” But instead his hand folded into his, his head bowing just to hide his cheeks. “Y-you can dry me.”

"Thank you." Lance grinned and squeezed his hand gently before he let go and grabbed a towel, gently drying him and patting his hair dry. "It would be no good if you got sick."

“I know.” He nuzzled after Lance’s hands like a spoiled kitten. “You’d take care of me though”

"Someone has to." Lance kissed Keith's forehead once he finished getting his hair as dry as he could, wrapping the towel around him and hugging him close. "Better?"

“Mhmm.” Keith nodded his head, “You always look out for me. Even before, whether you wanted to or not.” The black mopped head laid on Lance’s shoulder. First there was a nudge of his nose, then a kiss, followed by a few more as they followed the curve down only to move back up to kiss the top of his pecs. His tongue came after that, intermittently tasting the rain chilled skin, between more eager kisses. 

"Nnn..." Lance tried to come up with some coherent response, but with all of the kisses and licks, there wasn't much his brain would let him do but moan.

“Lance.” Keith whispered his name against his neck, as his arms wrapped up around him. “I want to know what it feels like. What you feel when you’re with me.” No sense in trying to be coy with it. Lance had a point. Keith sucked at not being direct, or honest. Unfortunately, ineptitude translated to be poor seduction skills when it came to sex. So, in bedroom warfare Keith’s best weapon was honesty. Never plan, and just do what feels natural. It makes everything else feel natural. “If it’s not okay, I’ll understand and let you do anything you want.”

Lance shuddered as Keith's breath brushed against his neck, and he held him. Even with such a request, which caused Lance's cheeks to flush, Keith was incredibly adorable. "It's okay." He whispered, nuzzling his hair a bit. "I wouldn't deny you that. If you want to know what it feels like, I want to give that to you."

“Eh?” Keith stood straight up, his eyes wide. It was obvious he wasn’t expecting that answer. “Really?”

"You wanted me to say no?" Lance blinked a little and looked at him. 

“No,” Keith cupped Lance’s cheek in his hand. “I expected you to. You look like you enjoy it so much, I didn’t think...” Keith smiled as he stepped in closer. “You’d want to give it up.” 

Lance blinked at him nuzzled the hand on his cheek. "Why would I give that up just because I'm also okay with letting you do it? Do you think once you do it, it's always going to be that way?" He leaned in and kissed him. "Of course I enjoy it. It feels good, and I get to see all the cute faces you make. But that doesn't mean I would deny you enjoyment." 

“Cute?” Keith cocked his head a little. He didn’t think his expressions during sex would be considered ‘cute’ but what did he know? Lance was the one that had to look at him. “I enjoy it that way too,” Keith wasn’t sure why but he needed to clarify. “The way it feels. I mean it’s strange. And my body feels strange, but then—well—you know the rest.” Keith kissed him back. 

"I'm glad you enjoy it." Lance whispered against his lips. "I would be pretty upset if you didn't." He smiled and took both of Keith's hands, gently pulling him towards the pillows and blankets. 

“Eh?” Keith followed, not sure what he was expecting but he did not argue as he laid back on the pillows. The dazed expression left his face and he sat up on his legs, stopping the paladin from joining him by placing his hands against Lance’s thighs while his head tilted up to him. “Wa-wait. There’s something I want to do first.” 

Keith leaned his head in, his lips and nose nuzzling over the waist of Lance’s boxers. “I found your ‘reading material’.” His mouth moved up to kiss at the start of Lance’s hip, his tongue slipping over the deep line that separated his torso from his lower body.

“Love line.” Keith whispered like a student remembering his vocabulary. 

Lance couldn't keep his eyes from widening to the point where he thought they might pop out of his head. The slight blush on his cheeks darkened and spread across his nose and to his ears. "Y-you what? That's so embarrassing! You weren't supposed to find those!" He couldn't even continue the protest because that lick caused his brain to give up on the words and he whimpered, his heat growing in his underwear. "K...Keith..."

“I saw this.” Keith continued to kiss and lick down that line, inching Lance’s boxers off along the way until the heated flesh was against his cheek. He’d touched Lance’s need several times by now, but a nervousness was building in the young paladin. He had to take a pause, nodding reassuringly to himself he continued. 

“Alright, here I go. Stop me, if it’s bad.” Keith took a deep breath, and leaned in, holding Lance in one hand while his tongue slid up the side of his sex. Inexperienced as he was, Keith keep moving up until tip met tip and he rounded his tongue over the head.

"AH!" Lance didn't know he had that kind of loud, lewd voice in him, but there it was. His hand came down to the shorter man's hair and he gripped it, fingers trembling slightly. 

Keith turned his eyes up at that sound. Lance’s voice stirred him up inside. He wanted to be bolder. He wanted Lance to make more sounds. He took his tip into his mouth, his tongue slipping to lave the underside. He knew this taste, it was hotter than what he’d experienced before, but he knew it. It was like what he’d tasted that first night from his fingers. The taste was salty, slightly bitter, but warm. It wasn’t all bad, surprisingly. He pushed further down him under his mouth covered what it could, the tip pressed against the back of his throat, his lips sealing around him to suck in while he pulled back. 

The wet heat that wrapped around him was too much. Keith's mouth was too good. Lance gripped his hair a little tighter, but he tried not to pull it as his back arched and he groaned. His other hand came to rest on Keith's shoulder as if he could keep himself balanced as his climax came over him. 

“Mph!” Keith whimpered and had no choice but to swallow what Lance emptied into him or choke at the suddenness of it. When he was done, he pulled off the darker man, his lips nuzzling the still heated flesh as he spoke. His burning self-satisfied eyes glimmering as they took Lance in with a side long glance. 

“How was it?” Keith licked again, damn well knowing the answer. Lance’s behavior awakened something strange inside Keith. The sensation thrilled him as though he were a little drunk and he wanted more of it. 

"S...Sorry. I just felt so good." Lance bowed his head a little and pouted a bit. He was quicker than he thought he would be, but who could blame him when Keith was doing what he was doing? "Nnn...If you keep licking it..." And there it was. He was fully aroused again. 

“Come down here with me then?” Keith’s tongue trailed one last time along Lance’s length as he pulled away and laid back on the pillows. He settled in, his half-lidded eyes taking in Lance’s body, darkening as they traveled over him until their eyes met. He arched his head back on the pillow. His every motion designed to entice and attract. Keith’s dark hair laid in contrasting waves, his body was a perfect cream canvas painted in blush in all the areas Lance liked to attack even as they remained untouched. Small, older kiss marks still depicted a history of lavished attention. 

Lance nodded and sank into the pillows next to him, his fingers gently brushing over some of the kiss marks he left on Keith's collarbone. "Are...you okay?" He knew he had startled the other paladin just moments before. He couldn’t help it. He didn’t expect Keith to do that in the first place, and he didn’t expect it to feel that amazing. 

“Yeah.” Keith reached his hand out to the back of Lance’s head and pulled in for a devouring kiss, his fingers gripping into his cowlicks. He broke away to breathe and to press the length of his body to Lance’s, his leg curling over his. He pushed up, his hand applying force the other man’s shoulder, getting him on his back. Keith smirked as he positioned himself on top. 

Lance settled back as Keith shifted their bodies, and he looked up at him, cheeks still flushed. The way Keith's form settled above him made him shiver a bit. How could someone be so sexy? Did Keith have any idea?

The soft lighting in the room gave Keith’s eyes a feral indigo glow. Though it was a wonder if the color was a trick of the light or if Keith’s Galra blood gifted the paladin with another special trait. His hair hung down over past his face, dry now and curling up with natural waves. The dark mane appeared stylishly unkempt and sex tossed. “Are you sure?” Keith asked, voice breathy as he leaned down to lick up the line of Lance’s jaw while his muscles moved with unhurried feline arches and grace down the sculpt of his back. 

“I don’t know what I’m doing.” Keith tried to cover his hitching voice by nibbling of Lance’s jaw and ear lobe. “Don’t let me hurt you.”

There was that nibble to his earlobe again and Lance groaned, squirming a bit beneath Keith. His eyes darkened even as he closed them, breath hitching. "Nnn...You're..." How was he supposed to formulate any sort of helpful thought, let alone say it, when Keith was seducing him so thoroughly? But he opened his eyes again and focused on him, trying to concentrate. "Lotion..?"

Keith paused for a tick as he thought about what Lance was asking, before he nodded. “I left it in the bag.” He got up, pulling away from Lance’s dark warm body. 

Keith shivered when faced with the open air of their tent but he found the bag, got the lotion out, and crawled back into the nest of pillows. He curled up to Lance, nuzzling his neck to cuddle in until the chill left him, leaving him to bask in Lance’s body heat.

Lance watched his every move, but once Keith was back and cuddling, he shifted a little and blushed. "Do you remember what I did for you?"

“Like I can forget?” Keith nuzzled. “We did it two days ago.” He lifted himself to one arm, his other hand brushing a hair out of Lance’s face. “So just like that?” Concern softened Keith’s features. Lance had done research and learned about all this stuff before they ever hooked up. Physically Lance was a bit more delicate than Keith. Keith knew what he liked, he enjoyed the sensations of pleasure spiced with just a touch for ferocity. Lance always complied with his begs and pleas, and had Keith down well by now. Keith just hoped he could be gentle and kind. Like how Lance was with him. 

“You’ll tell me, right?” Keith warmed the lotion he placed on his fingers. “If it hurts. You’ll tell me?”

"I meant the first time, not now that you're a little more used to it." Lance smiled at him. "If it's too much, I will tell you. I promise." He reached up and gently pushed some of Keith's hair back, his fingers threading through the waves.

“Lance,” Keith swallowed back a swell of emotion and leaned into his hand. “Okay.” He kissed Lance’s palm then his wrist, lowering a coated finger to push at his entrance. 

Lance watched his face, making sure he was keeping his breathing as steady as he could. He slid one hand down Keith's other arm and gently held his wrist. "That's it..." 

Keith moved his finger with a steady rhythm. He wanted to feel every part of him and as he slipped the second digit in, a whimper left his throat. His groin twitched in anticipation even as he controlled every aching muscle in his body. He held in a soft growl he heard starting in his throat. He wanted to take Lance. Claim him and make sure every inhabitant of this moon could hear his name come from Lance’s lips. Keith cursed at the intensity, biting down on his lip. How had Lance remained so calm?

Lance kept his grip on Keith's wrist, his eyes locked on him. He did his best to keep breathing, knowing that the more he tensed up, the worse it would be. "Keith..." He murmured, shifting a little at that second intrusion and arching just a bit. 

“Does it hurt?” 

"It's fine. Don't stop." Lance lifted his other hand to touch his cheek. 

Keith blinked, then melted at Lance’s touch. Like this, Lance always curbed him. He kissed each finger as if every gracing touch was deserving of praise. “I love you” He whispered with a shaken breath. He pulled fingers out and sat up to his knees to remove what remained of his clothing, settling back between Lance’s legs. Keith curled his face against Lance’s neck and started to push himself in, whimpering against his bronze shoulder. “La-Lance.”

He couldn't help it. His breath got caught in his throat when Keith pushed in, but once that initial intrusion was done, he let it out, trying to keep his body from tensing around him. "K...Keith." He managed, his arms moving around the other paladin. 

“I’m sorry.” Keith’s voice was a broken soft sob. When Lance’s arms came around him, his hips bucked, pushing himself deeper than he was ready to go, but instead of stopping, his body did it again and again until he trembled, releasing inside his lover. “I’m…” his arms came up between Lance’s shoulders and clutched the slender man closer to himself. His face buried hard into his neck.

Lance grunted a little with those thrusts and he kept his arms around Keith, one hand moving to stroke his hair a bit. "Nnn. Don't apologize. It's okay." He closed his eyes and tilted his head back a little, shifting and trying to coax Keith into either moving again or pulling out since he was still inside him. 

As he held him close, Keith started to move, having never softened. “Nng…” He groaned into Lance’s ear, his hips pressing in, allowing for shallow thrusts so he never pulled too far away from him. It was the best he could do to remain in control of his senses, but it also meant being enveloped by such a hot welcoming tightness. “Lance, nnmm.” He focused on the muscles in his hips as they flexed and pushed, trying to distract himself.

"Nnn." Lance's hand trembled a bit in Keith's hair as he opened his eyes again to look at him, his own hips trying to move in rhythm with the other paladin's. 

As Lance guided him, Keith’s thrust became steady following the way the other moved. He started to notice how certain angles would change Lance’s voice or expressions, and it fascinated him. Keith leaned up, keeping one hand in the burnt honey curls as he watched his face, leaving brief kisses on his cheeks and jaw.

Lance's eyes closed when those kisses came to his cheeks, and he tilted his head as they progressed to his jaw. Keith was getting the hang of it, and Lance was feeling better. He whimpered a little with some of the movements and moaned with others. He kept his arms around the other man, though one hand moved to grip Keith's upper arm so he had something to hold.

It got easier. Their bodies finding a rhythm and rocking tightly together. Keith loved the little sounds Lance made when something felt good, each moan and squeeze of his arm encouraged him to move faster and a little deeper. “Lance…” he continued kissing his jaw then his ear letting his fangs scrape and tease the soft flesh. 

"S...Slow down a little." Lance groaned and shivered at the same time. He tried to turn his head a little to look at Keith, but he moaned again. It wasn't that it hurt, but if Keith started going too fast, he would likely lose control like he did earlier, and then he would feel bad for potentially hurting Lance.

“S..sorry…” Keith whispered into his ear, his hips slowing and making the older paladin whimper, his body tensed as he fought for control of his more basic instincts. “Does it hurt?” He nuzzled into his cheek before he lifted enough to look down at him. Keith’s eyes were black with barely controlled lust, but his brow was furrowed as if he could feel the assumed pain of his lover. 

"No...I just didn't want you to lose control again." Lance managed between gasps for breath and moans, looking up at him and leaning himself up to kiss him. He slid his hand from Keith's upper arm down to his hand, fingers trembling a bit with the movement. "Keith...Ah!"

Keith held his head there, forehead against forehead as his body continued to move. His free hand stroking Lance’s cheek as he kissed him again and again, his own breathing getting faster. “Lanc..lance.. I.. AH!” He closed his eyes tightly and brought his head down to Lance’s shoulder as he tensed, his mouth opening and biting down on the tender ridge of Lance’s collar. 

"D...Do it." Lance held onto Keith's hand and tried to move a little to push Keith over the edge. 

“Eeng!” Keith cried out around his neck, eyes tightly shut as his hips jerked, still trying to be controlled, but as he tipped over, he didn’t know what was he doing and everything else was automatic. Before he knew it, he was panting against Lance’s chest, his body finishing emptying the last bit of himself inside is lover before he pulled out. 

During Keith's climax, Lance hit his own, and he clung to the smaller paladin as his body jerked with his. When it was done, and Keith had pulled out, he settled back into the pillows, panting, spent.

Small kisses started at Lance’s chest as if each one was meant to be an apology. Keith moved his lips up the small red bite mark then up his throat over his jaw until he could see directly into his eyes. His weight settled between Lance’s legs and his lips moved up to dust his face until moved into his hair. His fingers followed suit, gracing each curve and slope it was as if Keith had never seen another human before and he wanted to memorize every last part of him.

"Are...you okay?" Lance's eyes started to close as he finally caught his breath. He lifted his hands to gently touch Keith's cheeks, watching the somewhat mesmerized expression on his face. 

“I should be asking you that.” Keith kissed his fingers, nipping at the fleshy part on the inside of his knuckles. “I can’t be like you. That controlled or patient. How do you do it?”

"That's ok though isn't it?" Lance closed his eyes and smiled lazily. "I'm not bitey like you. Isn't it fine for us to have different things we do?"

Keith pouted, blowing some hair out of his eyes. “How is that a good thing?”

"Well you're sexy, and it's not like it hurts. If you were making me bleed, that would be different hm?" Lance opened his eyes and pushed that hair out of Keith's face. 

“Do you hate it?” Keith stroked his fingers over the small red mark that showed through even on Lance’s dark skin. If the roles had been reversed Keith was sure the mark but be alarmingly bright on him.

"I don't hate it. If I did, you'd know by now." 

Keith leaned in and nuzzled into his neck. “Then… it was amazing. Thank you.”

"You're the only one I'd ever let do that." Lance nuzzled his face into Keith's hair.

“Well it’s the same for me.” Keith blushed. “Either side of it. Though… how…was it? Being like that?”

"I don't think I was actually prepared for what it would feel like." Lance nuzzled and held him closer. "But it felt good. How was it for you?"

“Same here. I don’t know what I was expecting. But it felt good. Tight and Hot. Is that what’s it’s like?” Keith turned innocent eyes up to Lance in that way he always did to excuse any type of lewd comment he’d make.

"Yes." At this point, Lance wasn't really surprised at the honest words that came from Keith, lewd as they were. He shook his head a little and tapped his nose. "As long as you felt good."

Keith smiled. “I did, but…” He blushed now. “I like being under you more. Not that you were bad! Or that it was bad at all! I mean… I like what you make me feel.”

Lance blinked, but then he smiled and nuzzled. "Oh yeah? I can't say I'd mind that. Being with you like this is good, but I prefer it the other way too." He kissed his cheek.

“Yeah?” Keith closed his eyes and sighed. He didn’t accomplish exactly what he wanted to when he came here with Lance. He wanted to take care of him, to show him a fraction of what he does for Keith. Somehow, Lance ended up taking care of him again. Reassuring him. “Someday I’ll take care of you.”

"What do you mean? You do take care of me." Lance sighed a little and gently rubbed Keith's back a bit. "Why do you think you don't?"

“You always end up like this. Supporting me or coddling me, or holding me like this.” Despite his complaints Keith melted into it like he always did. Shiro was right about one thing. When denied affection for most of your life, you crave and fall into the first arms that hug you or the first hands that touch you kindly, and the first lips that caress you. Keith didn’t think it was a bad thing, as long as that person was someone like Lance. Kind, loyal. Someone who wouldn’t take advantage of a person who desperately needed someone. Instead he’d protect the innocent needy part of the one he loved. If Keith was lacking love, Lance would provide it. Lance would be damned to hell if he’d allow anyone else a chance to hurt him.

"But I don't understand why that means you don't take care of me." Lance continued to rub Keith's back, trying to soothe him a little. "You take better care of me than anyone else. I mean look what you did to try to cheer me up. That's taking care of me."

Keith laughed. “Well tried to do anyway.” He cuddled in more, shifting his body so he wasn’t completely over Lance. He was smaller than him, but not by much, and Keith had a suspicion that he might weigh more than a few pounds more than the slender younger man. “They all love you. Pidge, Hunk, Coran, Allura… everyone. You make everyone feel at ease.” He kissed where he could and continued on.

“The Lions, Zarkon, princesses, paradoxes, reality rifts. It’s too much, but when you joke around you settle the whole team down. I know you don’t like being called ‘a goofball’, but it’s needed more than you know. You don’t even realize what you do. I don’t want to imagine this team without you.” Keith’s eyes lowered. “I don’t want to imagine me without you.”

"You know I'm not actually joking half the time, right?" Lance pouted a little. "I mean sometimes I do it on purpose, but not all the time." He shook his head. "You don't have to imagine any of that you know. I have no intention of leaving you. You'd have to leave me if you want to get away from me. And even then I'll try to follow you."

“I’ll try to live up to that.” Keith yawned as he nuzzled his chest.

"Try to live up to what? Leaving me?" Lance pouted more. 

“Worthy of being a person worth stalking.” Keith smirked letting Lance feel how his lips moved against his skin.

"So you want to leave me?" Lance shifted to hold him closer. "I won't let you."

“Don’t, and if it feels like I’m falling, catch me.” Keith whispered his command from their first night. Unlike Shiro, he wouldn’t make preparation for his death or disappearance. Keith would never place that burden on to someone else. Instead he’d just ask for someone to guide him. Someone who would only wish to see Keith do the best he could, and someone who would still love him even if he failed.

"I will." Lance kissed the top of his head.

“Mm. Thank you.” Keith sunk into Lance a little more, drifting further into sleep. 

“The sound is nice.” Keith half spoke half murmured, ruminating on the gentle fall of drops against the tent and the stone slabs outside. “Soothing.” He nuzzled. “We… should get a.. place like…hnnn” a sigh of sleep finished his thought.

Lance smiled as Keith fell asleep on him, and he simply held him close, his eyes focusing on the tent as the rain drops pattered against it. The idea of Keith wanting to get a place together made him giddy, which kept him awake even though his body was screaming for him to sleep. The last thing he wanted to do was upset Keith, so he didn't tell him how much it initially hurt. But that pain also gave him a greater appreciation for the smaller paladin. For all that Keith said he was the patient one, he really didn't know how Keith dealt with the pain. Maybe it was because he was way more in shape than Lance was? Because he trained the most? He had no idea, but he respected him for it.

Eventually, the pattern of the rainfall lulled him to sleep, and he held Keith just a bit closer. 

\-----

The first sun started to rise, lighting the tent up with gentle grays and greens. The rain continued to fall keeping the young leader sound asleep. There was a fresh chill in the air and as Keith shifted, and the blanket pulled down leaving him vulnerable to its caress. A wind blew gently over him, his skin rising up with goose bumps and chilling his peaks. “Hmm…” he whimpered, his head lulling back over his pillow.

Lance's eyes opened and he pulled the blankets back up over them, but in doing that, he also pressed himself against Keith, using his own body to give him warmth, though feeling Keith's naked skin against his own made him want to do more than just hold him. So he watched his lover's face as he slid a hand down his chest and pressed a finger against one of those raised peaks. 

“Ah…” From parted lips came a soft sigh of pleasure, the sensitive skin reacting more to Lance’s touch than the chill. Areas of the paladin’s body were becoming more and more reactive to provocation than they had been their first night. There would be no doubt who trained it and who it wanted to entice. If anything, Keith’s experience last night, while amazing, was not all the compact frame desired. 

Lance's eyes darkened at that sound and he leaned in, trailing gentle kisses down Keith's jaw and neck as his hand traveled lower on his torso. He wanted to repay the favor Keith did for him the night before, and he would make sure Keith enjoyed it.

“Ah--Lance.” Keith whimpered, one hand going to his lips as he bit down on his knuckle, the other starting a slow slide down his body questing to touch the ache going between his legs. “There. Nnn when you touch there... it--“ He was still caught in sleep he arched toward his dream lover.

Lance glanced up at Keith's face and arched a brow. Was he still asleep? What kind of dream was he having? He caught Keith's hand before he could touch himself. He kissed along his collarbone, his tongue slipping out to taste him. "Let me do it," he whispered, as his other hand slid over his stomach. 

“Hm.” The black haired boy almost purred when Lance took his hand, and he reacted to the low whisper of Lance’s voice with a whimper of a his own, his tongue coming out to lick over the fingers at is mouth as though he were accepting something else. “Nn..Lance…” His brows furrowed up as his hips moved to taunt some invisible lover.

He couldn't help the smirk that came to his lips when Keith's body started to move. He progressed lower, trailing kisses down his sternum and over his stomach, circling his navel once with his tongue before he trailed it down a love line. He continued to hold Keith's hand, though his other hand curled around his partner's arousal, moving slowly before he slid his tongue over his tip.

“AH!” Keith’s eyes snapped open, but looked down at Lance in a dreamy haze. “La--Lance..what.. ng!” He clutched Lance’s hand, his mouth biting down on his finger. “Damnit!” He swore, his voice wispy and broken.

Lance's only answer was to take him into his mouth, moving his head on him.

Keith’s head tossed to the side, away from his abused finger. His hand also took this opportunity to escape him and moved down to push into Lance’s hair. “I.. Ah.. Emn!” One leg bent up and wrapped around Lance, hooking the boy there between his legs. “D-don’t.. Stop!”

Taking even more of him into his mouth, Lance moaned around Keith and closed his eyes. His now free hand rested on Keith's thigh, as if to hold him steady as he worked over him. 

“Ah! AH!” His fingers gripped but were shockingly gentle, considering the source, as Keith cried out louder. Reservation unnecessary in such a desolate place. “Lance!” 

Lance murmured around him as though he could answer his moans, even if his mouth was occupied. He rubbed Keith's thigh a little while he kept moving his head.

Keith’s legs opened akimbo, coaxed by Lance’s guidance. His hip ground against the bed while the foot on the back of his lover’s leg slid up his calf and back down, his toes curling and releasing against him like a kneeding kitten. Had he done this to Lance? Is this what he made him feel?

At this point, it was just easier to assume Keith had no idea what he was doing to Lance whenever he did something. He groaned around Keith and pulled his head up, almost as if he was about to pull off him, but he didn't and just let his tongue swirl around him before he took more in again. His hand slid down and under Keith's leg, slowly trailing his fingers down the underside of his thigh to the back of his knee.

“A-ah!” Keith’s spine arched back, his lower half writhing as a climax overthrew him. He clutched Lance’s hair trying to pull him closer and push him away at the same time. Keith thrust himself to feel more of his mouth as his world blacked out.

When he came to less than a second later he was laying sated on the pillows, legs still quivering, breath still quick and shallow, as his hand slipped numbly from the cowlicked locks. 

Lance sat up after swallowing what Keith gave him, wiping the remnants off his lips with the back of his hand. He grinned down at Keith, his eyes glinting a little. "Oh, so you like it too hm?"

Something like a low growl escaped the other paladin. Dazed eyes looking about the small room before landing on Lance. In the tents lighting their color shifted from blue to a glowing violet. “I-I can’t..”

Lance didn't mean to laugh at that. It's not that it was funny, really, but there was just something about Keith's reaction that made him do it, and he leaned down to kiss him. "Then don't. It's ok."

Keith blinked when he was kissed, tasting himself on Lance’s lips flared up his cheeks. “I didn’t warn you.” He whispered. 

"I didn't warn you last night, either." Lance grinned a bit and kissed him again. "And I didn't warn you while you were sleeping."

“I don’t mind waking up like this.” Keith nuzzled Lance. “What stirred you up.” He kept giving him sweet languid kisses as they spoke.

He shrugged a little, but kept kissing him. "I got touchy, and you seemed to be having sex dreams about me, so I made it better for you." 

“I was?” Keith asked, happy to get lavished by Lance’s lips, always quick to indulge himself.

"You were. Or at least it seemed like you were, since you moaned my name and tried to touch yourself." Lance grinned. 

“Eh!” Keith’s lips froze mid kiss, his face heating ten extra degrees. 

"So what other kind of dream could you be having if that was what you were doing?" Lance kissed him again, somehow still grinning. 

“I’m more surprised you stopped me.” Keith quipped, trying to recover.

"From touching yourself?" Lance's grin took on a mischievous curve. "I'd rather you show me that when you're awake and aware, not when you're asleep."

“You know, I’ve thought this for a while.” Keith nuzzled his nose against Lance’s before he scrunched it. “You are a pervert.” He kissed him again and again. “Which makes me even worse because I like it.”

"I'm a pervert because I want to see you feeling pleasure?" Lance pouted between the kisses. "Doesn't that make me a doting lover?"

“If that’s how you want to phrase it.” Keith kissed him again. “Then does that make me the pervert here.” He licked at the tip of Lance’s nose.

"No. You're feisty, not perverted." Lance lifted his hand to touch Keith's cheek. "There's nothing wrong with either of us, even if we have different ways of doing things and showing affection." He kissed him gently. "And I would hope if I ever did anything you didn't like, you'd tell me. I'd do the same for you. Luckily you haven't done anything I don't like, so I haven't had to say anything." 

Keith blushed darkly, “So none of that other stuff bothers you?” He leaned in to nudge the little red mark his bite left on Lance. “And you don’t just ‘put up’ with it?”

"No. None of it bothers me. I know who you are, Keith." Lance kissed one of those red cheeks. "If you ever go too far, and I don't like it, I'll tell you. But you haven't, and there's nothing I dislike. So don't worry so much okay?"

“I love you.” The words came easier to Keith, and every time Lance cemented himself into some forgotten space in Keith’s heart, it became that much easier.

"I love you too. " Lance smiled and kissed his lips. Keith had to have some idea what kind of power he had over Lance, right? 

“How are you feeling?” Keith wrapped his arms around Lance his hands lowering to rub his lower back.

"A little sore, but that's normal right?" Lance groaned at Keith's touch. "That feels good though."

 

“Yeah, seems to be. I’m used to you now, so it doesn’t hurt for me the next day.” Keith kept rubbing into the small of Lance’s back. “But you must be pretty sore right now. I’m sorry it hurts.”

"Sore isn't the same as hurt." Lance groaned again and closed his eyes. "Sore means doing something your muscles aren't used to doing. Hurt means pain. I'm not in pain.

“Good.” Keith’s hands continued to move. “I’m glad you’re only sore.” He nuzzled into his cheek. “Can I get you anything?”

"Nnn. This is pretty good." Lance's eyes began to close.

“Anything else you need?” Keith chucked. 

"Just you."

“And what would you like me to do?” Keith slid one finger up his spine. “We have a few more hours before we need to get back.”

"Can't we just stay like this?" Lance looked at him. "Or do you want to do something else?"

“You already did a lot for me. It’s anything you want.” Keith was still rubbing the muscles in Lance’s lower back and around his spine. “We can stay just like this until Red takes us home.”

"I would like to relax like this with you for as long as we can." Lance relaxed a little. "We don't get much time to do this, do we?"

“No, not much.” Keith sighed and hugged Lance a little closer. Reality was waiting for them back on the castle. Voltron, the Galra, Lotor, and Shiro. “We should enjoy any time we get, and if I have to milk the next few hours I will.” 

Lance smiled a little at Keith and shifted so he could hold him better as well. "We should. I think it's fine If we both want to do this. Who knows when we'll have time again." He murmured as he kissed the top of his head and closed his eyes. He knew once they got into the swing of things, there wouldn't be much time, if any, for him to keep Keith to himself, so he was going to cherish the time he had now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued - Sort of? 
> 
> This story ends here we will pick up again probably after season 4 (In some way) We may continue to had a series of one shots to this but for now, this is the completed story. 
> 
> Please look for us again when we post our American Gods AU: The Derelicts 
> 
> Teaser:
> 
> Keith reached his hand out to him. “Are you really here, or did I get to choose the last thing I see before I die?” His hand scraped over Lance’s pants, and a delicious chill traveled down the whole of his body as he pressed himself up against him, the length of his full form wrapped covetously around one limb. “Gods it is you. Seiryuu.” His fingers hooked into his pants holding himself up, his chin pressed to the frozen man’s hip. “You came.”


End file.
